The Gunsmith and The Reaper
by Clarence Potter
Summary: What does Ruby Rose do on her free time away from her team? Hang out with an apprentice gunsmith of course. This is a RubyXOC story, Mature rating for language, possibly violence and for lemons/limes.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, this is the first fanfic I wrote in years. I don't know if I'll be continuing or not, depends if I have the motivation and have time to work on it. The second chapter is already finished, just needs final editing and I won't post it until I start working on chapter 3. Anyways, anything RWBY related is owned by RoosterTeeth, the only thing that's mine are the OCs.**

In the backroom workshop of a weapons store in Vale a young man was putting the finishing touches on a hunting rifle for a client that wanted a tune up after it had been hanging on a wall for Oum knows how long. Since he had his headphones on he didn't know his boss/father was in the room until he grabbed his shoulder and yelled.

"Fantastic work as always!" Beamed his heavyset father as he patted his shoulder.

"It was nothing, just cleaned out the thick layers of dust and lubed it. There was nothing mechanically wrong with it."

"All the same…..by the way your girlfriend is here." He replied with a grin.

The young man turned slightly red as he knew who he meant. There was a girl around his age that visited the shop frequently mostly to ogle the products, buy magazines and purchase ammo. His father figured out he had a crush on her and liked to tease him about it when the only interactions he had with her is just seeing her. He only knew her as "Ruby" since his father said her name once or twice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He got up to put the finished rifle in the completed work section and fixed it with a tag of the customer's info.

"Don't bullshit me son. I've seen the way you look at her like a puppy." He said crossing his arms.

Finished with the tag he turned to his father. "I'm not a puppy dad."

His father went to the door to go back in the store. "Come on, just come say hi at least. She doesn't bite….unless she's into that kind of thing, in fact your mothe-"

"Ok, I'll go!" Just to spare him from hearing a lewd story about his parents even if meeting Ruby did make him nervous.

They both entered the store behind the counter. He saw Ruby browsing the latest weapon magazines wearing headphones and her usual red/black goth lolita dress. His father began checking the register to make sure it was functional and no one messed with it in his absence. The young man mostly fiddled with one of the pistols from the glass display to calm himself down.

He was lost in thought when his father jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow causing him to look up to see Ruby holding out her sniper-scythe.

"I need the barrel changed out and all the springs replaced. Oh! While you're at it refinish everything, the red is starting to wear off." She said before handing Crescent Rose to his father.

"Sure thing little miss. Anything else for you?" His father asked before handing the weapon to the young man.

Slapping a magazine on the counter and pointing to the ammo displays. "Just this newest Guns&Dust and some ammo."

"Alright, I'll ring you up. My son here will have your weapon ready by this time tomorrow."

"You be careful with my baby! I put all my love into him." Ruby said seriously while pointing a finger at him.

He chuckled nervously at Ruby's implied threat towards him.

"Don't worry, Crescent Rose is in good hands, I taught him everything he knows." His father defended him.

Ruby squinted her eyes slightly at the young man. "What is your name? Just in case I have to hunt you down if you screw up."

He gulped at Ruby's statement while his father sniggered behind him. "Nathan Carter." He nervously offered his hand in a shake which Ruby accepted.

"Ruby Rose." She had a surprisingly strong grip.

"It'll be in tip-top shape when you're back." Said his father stepping in to save his son again from the Red Reaper.

"Oookay." She said going towards the door with her shopping bag loaded with sniper rifle ammunition and reading material. "And remember Nathan, if my pride and joy is hurt you're burnt cookies." Ruby stated going out the door not looking back at Nathan's response.

"You'll be fine Nate, she won't kill you…..probably. She said something similar the first time she let me work on her weapon."

Nathan looked over Ruby's "baby" in its storage mode before finding a switch that would unfold it. Quickly the weapon shifted into its scythe configuration.

"How does someone so small wield something like this!" Nathan said doing a practice swing.

"No idea kid, I haven't seen her fight."

He brought Crescent Rose into the workshop and began the process of disassembly. Nathan worked slowly and carefully as if any slight jarring will make the parts explode which would result in his later demise by Ruby. Completing that he retrieved a box filled with various springs and began swapping out the old ones for new. The old springs he will keep until Ruby picks up Crescent Rose, after which he'll scrap them to be reused later. Springs installed Nathan moved on to changing barrels, he looked down the bore of Ruby's old barrel and noted that most of the rifling has been worn away, a tribute to how many rounds she put through it.

Nathan spent several hours lathing down a new barrel blank to fit Crescent Rose before boring it through to her preferred caliber. After reassembly and function checks for fit and finish he went to the small indoor test fire range to insure proper operation.

Setting the weapon up in its sniper mode he rested it on a sandbag before loading 3 rounds into the magazine it came with and chambered a round. Aiming down the scope Nathan wasn't prepared for the recoil.

"Shit!" Nathan was glad he has aura or that might've dislocated his shoulder, it did push him back several paces. He quickly finished off the last 2 rounds and went back to his work bench.

He disassembled it again to begin refinishing the exterior and he decided to do the internals for good measure. After a couple hours the workshop smelled heavily of coating fumes, Nathan would be high or dead if not for his face mask.

Letting the parts sit for the coatings to adhere to them longer he checked his scroll for the time: 0341! "Fuck…"

Nathan earned a nap so slept on the cot he kept in the shop for long nights, he was so exhausted he didn't even dream. The next thing that happened was his father kicking his cot in the morning. "Pulled an all-nighter huh, that girl has you whipped already?"

"Too early….what time is?"

His dad checked the watch on his wrist: "Little after 7, you still have time to finish up. But take a shower first and change your clothes."

"Yeah yeah." He said getting up and going upstairs to his room to do just that.

On his way back down he saw his mother cleaning the kitchen before she goes to work at a nearby small huntsmen school. She was the reason he has aura along with some rudimentary combat training though hasn't really put it to much use but it does come in handy once in a while…like shooting Crescent Rose for instance.

"Hey Nate, I left you some scrambled eggs before I head out."

"Thanks mom."

"I heard from your father you didn't leave the shop last night, he said you were working on something for that Ruby girl."

Nathan reddened slightly. "Yeah, she wanted her weapon fixed up."

"She was star of the news a couple days ago, Ruby helped foil a dust robbery by that Torchwick fellow."

"Is that so, maybe that's why she wanted the refit."

"Be sure to try to get her scroll number."

"What!?" Stammered Nathan.

"Oh, your father told me you were sweet on her. Hope things work out for ya." His mother says as she leaves for work.

"Oumdamnit Mom." He grumbled as he grabbed his plate of eggs and wolfed them down before going back to the shop to finish his work.

Nathan waved hi to his father as he entered the shop and went to the back to put Crescent Rose back together. The coatings were long dry so he didn't have to worry about messing that up at least. Fully assembled he checked function briefly and put it into storage mode.

"Alright now to wait." Nathan got to work on other clients' weapons for the next several hours when his father stepped in.

"She's here for pickup."

Nathan started to get nervous again. "Yeah? Coming." He said grabbing Crescent Rose and moving to the main shop room.

Ruby was at the counter rocking back and forth on her heels fidgeting until she saw Nathan with her weapon. "Oh? Its done! Gimme gimme!"

Nathan handed Crescent Rose to its master who began giving it a onceover before shifting its modes. Ruby's eyes widened. "He looks as new as the day I made him!"

"Should, Nate was up until this morning working on it." Said his dad.

"He stayed up all night?"

"Heh, burnt cookies remember?" Nathan said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Forget that, how'd you do the barrel?"

"Since yours is non-standard I had to fabricate one myself. Good thing you wanted a new one, your old barrel was almost a smoothbore."

"I know right!?" Said Ruby as her and Nathan devolved into gun talk for 30 minutes.

"I wish I can talk weapons with my team like I can with you, guns are awesome."

"You're on a team? Aren't you too young for the academies?" Asked his father.

"Yep, but I got in early cause I fought off that Torchwick guy a couple days ago and Professor Ozpin asked if I wanted to come to Beacon and I said yes."

"What's your team like?" Nathan asked.

"I'm the leader and we're called team RWBY, that leads to a lot of confusion." She said with a giggle. "My older sister Yang is there and her partner is a quiet girl named Blake and my partner is a kinda mean girl from Atlas named Weiss, I'm sure we'll be besties though."

"And I take it your teammates aren't all that interested in talking shop?" Nathan said.

"Nah, Yang is mostly just interested in boys, Weiss is all about Dust and studying and Blake likes to read her naughty books."

"So I guess you get bored sometimes on your off time?"

"Yeah….oh! We can trade numbers! That way I can talk weapons with someone that talks back." Said Ruby holding up her scroll.

They exchanged numbers and put in the associated contact information until Ruby's scroll buzzed from a text. She quickly checked to see who was bugging her.

"It's Weiss, says the girls are done shopping and ready to go back."

"Welp it was nice meeting you Ruby." Said Nathan still surprised he got her number at all.

"You too! I'll probably pester you when you're free." She said with a smile before leaving.

His dad punched him in the arm. "That was smooth you dog."

"I didn't do anything, she did."

"Oh, so you like the bossy types." He said with a wink.

"Whatever Dad, I have some more work to finish but can I bump off early?"

"Sure, you did work hard for your sweetheart last night after all."

His statement gave Nathan lewd thoughts involving Ruby. He ignored it and went back to work.

After finishing several weapons he looked at the time: 1939. He put up the tools and went to his room after eating a snack. Nathan just did some internet surfing and listening to music until his phone buzzed.

The text was from Ruby: "I'm borrrrred "

Nathan chuckled, "Team mates not talking?"

"They're asleep already and I just finished my last book."

"Beacon has a library right?"

"Yeah but it's mostly non-fiction. I like adventure and fantasy stories ^_^"

"Guess you'll have to go into Vale, I know a couple stores if you need directions."

"Wanna go day after tomorrow? I'm free that afternoon."

Nathan started to think it was a date but brushed it off, just helping her get some books.

"Sure, I need to pick up some stuff anyway."

":D Yea, I'll meet you by your place and we can go to one of the stores you know about."

"Alright, it's a date."

 **Gripes? bitches? complaints? Let me know.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here's Chapter 2, don't expect for this to be a weekly thing it's just with all the follows pushed me to write more frequently so here we are. As for the reviews: Yes, I will admit Nathan is a bit of a self-insert, I generally suck at writing characters so if you're expecting quality characters look elsewhere, you won't be seeing that here lol. I just wanted something different from another "edgy black trench coat wearing red katana user that is already stronger than most/all of the characters in the show" we see so often. I was thinking of making it one of those "male-reader" stories but it would still be the same just with a Y/N instead of Nathan. As for Ruby calling Crescent Rose "He" I made that choice due to some girls referring to inanimate objects as a he rather than a she, if Ruby did refer to Crescent Rose as a she at some point I don't remember so if she did that was a mistake on my part. Anyways Chapter 3 is in final editing now and as last time I won't post it until I'm done or close to done with 4, whenever that is.**

Nathan regretted his choice in wording when he texted "date" but Ruby didn't seem to think anything of it with the two texting for another hour before going to bed.

The next day was uneventful, mostly just usual work. Nathan told his father he was going out with Ruby in the afternoon the following day, this was followed by him saying it was a date and giving him some extra Lien.

There wasn't really any texts from Ruby until later in the day when she was out of class he assumed.

"It's finally over (-_-) "

"Rough day?"

"Yeah, one of our professors is really boring and the other talks so fast I stopped taking notes."

"Kind of makes me glad I'm not in school."

"Yeah, I just want to fight Grimm and help people, not do homework :("

"Going to get to it?"

"Nah, I'll do it later. Gonna play some video games."

"You really should do your studies. Don't want to get kicked out of Beacon do you?"

"Maybe you're right. Weiss will bug me until I do, she always nags us about grades."

"I'll let you get to it, got work to do."

"Okay, laters."

For the rest of the afternoon Nathan went about re-edging a huntress' sword that had become severely dull. Task completed he decided to relax and watch some videos on his computer while eating some microwaved pizza pods.

The next morning was the same as the last with a return of nervousness for Nathan knowing he'll be going out with Ruby later in the day. He mostly just did busy work to keep his mind off later until his phone buzzed him with a text.

"I'm on the way 😊"

Nathan grew more nervous and sent out a quick reply.

"Ok, see you in a bit."

Nathan cleaned up his work area and went back to his room to change into some of his street clothes consisting of a black T-shirt with the silhouette of an assault rifle on it, worn jeans and tan boots. He also pocketed a small stainless dust revolver(S&W 642) into a leather holster in the small of his back.

Going back out into the store to hangout with his dad until Ruby showed up they mostly just had some idle chit-chat while watching the news on the TV they kept in the store mostly for background noise. They were talking about the most recent dust robbery when Nathan caught sight of Ruby walking down the street towards the shop through the front display window.

"Time for me to go." Nathan stated walking towards the front door.

"Have fun and wear protection." His father said with a smile.

"Oumdamnit Dad!" Yelled Nathan face red, his father just laughed at him.

Leaving out the door he was greeted by Ruby who was just pulling out her scroll.

"Hey Nate! Was just about to text you. Why's your face a little red?" Ruby asked putting her phone back into her pocket.

"Just my dad messing with me that's all, ready?" Nathan said dodging the question.

"Yep, lead the way!"

The two walked down the streets of Vale for roughly 30 minutes making small talk about their day.

"Want to grab something to eat after we get your books? I haven't eaten since this morning." Asked Nathan after feeling his stomach growl at not being fed.

"Sure, I'm a little hungry myself from all this walking." Answered Ruby as she made exaggerated shamble motions as she strolled next to Nathan.

Making it to the book store shortly later they went in to be welcomed by the musty old paper smell associated with purveyors of literature. Splitting up Ruby went to the fantasy section of the store while Nathan to the reference section to get some of the technical data books he was originally going to get for the shop.

Picking up what he needed Nathan went looking for Ruby finding her looking through a book she seemed interested in. He thought it might be fun to sneak up on her. Nathan lightly walked up behind her and poked her back.

"Boo."

Instantly his vision was filled with rose petals before seeing her with Crescent Rose deployed into scythe mode in a combat stance.

"Oh it's you, don't scare me like that you meanie." Ruby said as she collapsed her weapon and stowed it.

"Sorry, you were just so wrapped up in your book I couldn't resist." Nathan replied scratching the back of his head.

"I'm gonna get you back for that." She declared with a mischievous smile.

"Oooh scary. You find anything you like?"

"Yep!." Said the Reaper holding up 3 fantasy adventure books.

"Alright, lets check out and eat."

Ruby and Nathan bought their books and went across the street to a local fast food restaurant for their late lunch/early dinner. Finding a table the two looked at the menus deciding on what to get, Nathan already decided on 2 burgers with fries but Ruby didn't say what she wanted yet until the waitress came to take their order.

"I'll have 3 bacon cheeseburgers with fries and the cookie brownies." Said Ruby giving her order.

"Will your orders be separate or one?" Asked the waitress.

"One, he's paying." Ruby replied with an evil smile directed at Nathan.

"Such a gentleman, that'll be 40 Lien." Said the waitress happily.

Nathan paid and waited for the woman to leave before saying anything.

"What was that?" He said.

"Remember when I said I'd get you back? This is my revenge!" Answered Ruby channeling her inner Weiss.

"It's not that I didn't expect it, just didn't think you'd do it so soon." He said before drinking some of his soda.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at him. Soon after the waitress brought out their large plastic tray of food. Ruby immediately grabbed one of her burgers and messily devoured it leaving ketchup and mayo on her face. She grabbed another before Nathan even grabbed his first and swallowed that one as well. Taking his first bite she picked up her last burger and wolfed it down like the other two. Nathan briefly imagined Ruby with wolf or dog ears after seeing her feasting on the bacon cheeseburgers.

"Ruby?"

"Hmm?" Hummed Ruby with a couple fries in her mouth.

"How do you stay so slim?" Nathan asked.

"My dad said I have a fast meta-something." Answered Ruby.

"Metabolism."

"That's it, I eat junk food and sweets all the time, hasn't hurt me, I think its because of my semblance." Said Ruby before continuing her fries.

"What is your semblance? If you want to share that it." Nathan asked before finishing his first burger.

"Speed. I can go really fast, the rose petals you saw earlier is what it looks like when its active."

"Hmm." He said starting on his second burger. "By the way before you eat your dessert you might want to clean off your face."

Ruby lightly put a hand to her face and it came away messy with condiments. She grabbed a napkin and wiped the food additives off before Ruby had a glint in her eyes over the cookie brownies.

"And what I've been really waiting for." She said before tearing into the defenseless desserts.

Nathan watched with a mixture of amusement and horror as he finished his meal. Ruby had bits of chocolate and crumbs on her face after the cookie brownies disappeared.

"You're a mess again." Nathan told her with a smile.

She cleaned herself up and finished her glass of milk. "That was great!"

"Yeah because you didn't have to pay for it."

"Details." Said Ruby dismissing him with a wave.

"Ready to head back?"

"I wanna let my food baby settle for a bit." She replied holding her belly.

"You sure you aren't part dog or something?" Nathan asked with a grin.

"Nah, if I was I'd be so adorable I'd give people diabetes." Ruby said with a giggle.

"You're adorable enough as it is." Nathan's mouth moved faster than his brain when he made that statement.

"Sttoop you flatterer." Said Ruby in mock modesty.

Though Nathan was being truthful. He thought Ruby was pretty cute, eating habits notwithstanding.

"Any plans for this weekend?" Nathan asked.

"Well I should be free most of it, wanna go to the arcade or something Friday night?" Ruby said.

"Sure, maybe I can beat you at some games." He said with a grin.

"As if! I'll have you know I beat my teammates all the time in games…well except for my sister." She finished with a mumble.

"We'll see, maybe if I win you can always challenge me to a real fight." Nathan answered.

"You're a huntsman in training?" Ruby asked dubious.

"No, but I do have aura and some training." He replied.

"What's your semblance?" Ruby questioned.

"I..uh, don't have one yet." He said.

"Ehh, even if you did I'd still kick your butt." Said Ruby with a smirk.

"So I guess weekend plans are now arcade and fighting then?" Said Nathan.

"You bet Nate! So be ready to lose." Ruby stated somewhat childishly pointing at him.

Nathan made a mental note to choose weapons for the weekend, preferably ones effective against a sniper/scythe user that was also fast, a high fire rate submachine gun perhaps?

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's 3, Chapter 4 is pretty much done. Had less free time thanks to work and Resident Evil 2 so it threw off my writing time some but I got it mostly done over 3 days. I'm trying to go slow so no naughtiness for probably a couple more chapters before any of that happens. If you want some lewd Ruby while you wait there is a one-shot called Passion by StandAlone86, I recommend it highly. I own nothing but my OCs, everything else belongs to Rooster Teeth.**

"Hmm." Nathan rubbed his chin as he stared at the weapons wall in his workshop. After agreeing to fight with Ruby he was trying to decide what to go with that would give him an upper hand. From what she told him and briefly saw Ruby can move very quickly, so slow firing weapons were mostly a no-go. Her weapon seems more geared towards ranged combat even her scythe mode gives her more reach than a typical melee weapon. Nathan didn't have much experience with any melee weapons except for a cutlass preferring if he got into a combat situation like a Grimm attack or occasional bandit to use a firearm or other ranged weapons.

Hefting one of the likely candidates: a boxy submachine gun that accepts magazines through the grip(MAC10). It has a ludicrous rate of fire that can counter Ruby's semblance but he would have to get in close due to the weapons inaccuracy.

Another choice could be one of the new Atlesian laser rifles that came into the shop. The beams from it would travel to its instantly however the rifles are a bit finicky and all the bugs haven't been worked out yet.

Maybe one of Nathan's favorite weapons? A dust assault rifle with an underbarrel mounted grenade launcher(M16A1 w/M203). It was little different to most commonly available dust assault rifles but the grenade launcher gave Nathan more options from fire, ice and lightning dust explosives to large shotgun rounds.

He looked at another weapon he was currently developing to be its replacement but it was still too early for combat use, most of the electronics still needed debugging.

Ultimately he decided on the small SMG, they were going to fight after the arcade and Nathan didn't feel like lugging around a larger weapon.

It was Friday so Nathan got set up for the night, going with a tighter fitting tan shirt and woodland pattern combat pants with black boots. He worn a matching woodland camo top with the sleeves rolled up just past his elbows. He carried the SMG on a single-point sling under his top along with the spare ammo in pouches underneath similar to leather shoulder holster rigs.

Grabbing his scroll off the charger he sent a message to Ruby letting her know he was on the way to the arcade as he walked to the door.

"See you later mom." He said to his mother who was watching TV in the living room.

"Have fun." She answered back.

Leaving his place he got a reply on his phone: "K, see you there :D"

The trip there took him through some of the busier parts of Vale, getting even more so as the sun went down to be replaced with the fractured moon. Many people were out partying with their friends, Nathan even saw a rather rowdy blond girl in an outfit that greatly accented her curves.

Eventually getting into the arcade he found that the only lighting in most of the place was from the machines and some neon lights scattered throughout the place. Nathan found that Ruby was already there playing some kind of dancing game, he watched her jumping around and almost lost balance a few times.

"I didn't know you could dance." Nathan said as he got closer.

This startled Ruby slightly making her mess up, she was blushing in embarrassment. "I didn't think you'd be here already." She looks away, "And no I can't dance."

"Neither can I, so what game you wanna play."

"Hmm, we can do that mecha fighting game, its pretty realistic." Said Ruby pointing over to the game cabinets.

"Played before?" Nathan asked as they approached the machines.

"Yeah, I played some with Yang and Weiss after we pestered her into playing. She wasn't half-bad actually."

When he entered one of the game cabinets there was a seat like a fighter pilot's with two joysticks and peddles, he hasn't played this game before so he assumed Ruby was going to win this one. She got into the machine next to his.

"Ready? Just pick the private game I started." Said Ruby.

Nathan refreshed the menu and saw a game listed as "natsgetinrekt", he chuckled slightly at the name.

After clicking the game it began a countdown from 10, he wasn't sure how to control the mech in the game but he'll figure it….probably several seconds before Ruby kills him. Soon he got a HUD readout showing his heath, weapon and ammunition. His mech was equipped with some kind of auto-cannon that was basically an oversized assault rifle with a knife as a secondary. The environment they were going to be fighting in looked like a city that has become the site of a warzone.

"Alright Nate, you in?" Asked Ruby.

"I just spawned in. Were you already in?"

"Yup~" Said Ruby suspiciously.

Nathan's mech started taking hits from explosive rounds and he scrambled to get behind a building losing most of his health. "Ruby?"

"Yes?~" She said back.

"You're a cheater."

"I didn't say no cheating did I?" Replied Ruby as she advanced on him.

Nathan aimed at the likely direction Ruby would be coming but quickly changed his mind and decided to surprise her with the knife. Ruby came charging around the corner of the building firing her auto-cannon as she went thinking she could finish him off in a couple more shots, however she didn't expect him to do a suicide charge with a knife. Nathan clumsily got in a couple hits but Ruby managed to bat him away and fired a quick burst into him killing his mech.

"Nice try Nate, want a rematch?"

"Sure and no spawn killing this time."

"No promises." Said Ruby making a smirk Nathan couldn't see.

They did several more matches with Ruby winning all of them but one simply because Nathan had more ammo in his auto-cannon than Ruby when they shot at each other and her gun ran empty. Nathan briefly stuck to the seat as he got up, he sweated some from the games they played but when he saw Ruby she looked barely flustered at all from their matches.

"What's next?" Ruby asked with a small hop.

Nathan checked the time, it still wasn't that late. "Maybe some Deadhouse?"

"Ohh! I like those zombie shooters!" She said excitedly.

They started playing competing to see who gets the highest score with the two occasionally pushing or nudging each other to make them mess up their shots. The only time they cooperated without messing with each other was on the boss stages. Nathan actually managed to beat Ruby in score but it was mostly because he was more experienced with light-gun shooters. Afterwards they played a couple other games until it started to get late.

"So, you still want to do that spar?" Nathan asked Ruby.

"Of course, we just need to go to the edge of town. The park isn't big enough and we'll get in trouble if we wreck the place." She answered.

The two rode a night bus to the outskirts and went into the forest. The area was well illuminated with the moon shining down from above. They made idle chit-chat as they traversed the terrain until the forest opened into a clearing with a hill in the middle.

"Perfect, nice and open." Said Ruby as she pulled out Crescent Rose and deployed it into scythe mode. "So what did you bring?"

Nathan revealed the SMG, Ruby looked at it but wasn't particularly impressed with it as she has seen similar weapons being used by criminals and terrorists before. "I figured you woulda brought something bigger?"

"You don't need a big weapon to win." Said Nathan as he racked the bolt back of the small subgun.

"Mmm, Ready?" She asked taking up an almost runner's stance with Crescent Rose slightly angled behind her.

"Ready when you are." He said getting into a shooter's stance with his gun held at the low-ready.

"Ok, first one who's aura goes into the red or surrenders loses." Ruby stated.

"Got it."

"Alright….GO!" Ruby yelled and disappeared into rose petals.

Nathan swung his gun back and forth scanning for Ruby possibly flanking from the sides but didn't see her briefly being silhouetted by the moon as she came down from above whacking him in the skull with the dull side of the scythe head.

Without hesitation he pointed his gun and dumped half the magazine in her general direction but didn't know if he hit her as she disappeared again. Then he felt a large caliber bullet hit him knocking Nathan into the tall grass followed by several more shots in quick succession. Knowing Ruby doesn't have a thermal mode for her scope Nathan hid in the grass and waited for Ruby to come near to ambush her. When she got very close he could even smell her, Ruby smelled like strawberries. Nathan aimed his SMG and fired the whole mag into Ruby draining much of her aura.

"Sneaky Nate!" She yelled as she charged him knowing he had to reload.

"Shit!" Stammered as he tried to switch magazines but Ruby beat him to it by knocking the gun out of his hand and pointing the tip of Crescent Rose's blade at his neck.

"Ok I give." He said slowly raising his arms like a prisoner-of-war.

Ruby retracted her weapon and stowed it. "You almost got me there, I need to be more mindful of ambushes."

"Have to use the environment to your advantage, but I just lucky."

"Yeah! My aura was almost put into the red from that." She said before looking up at the stars.

Nathan thought that she looked particularly beautiful in the moonlight but kept that to himself. Ruby looked back down to check the time. "Man its late, we should head back."

Nathan nodded as they gathered their things and walked back into town. The two took another bus to some bullhead landing pads that went back to Beacon. On the way there Ruby was starting to get a little drowsy and nodding off. Sometimes she rested her head against Nathan without her realizing it, but Nathan sure did as he turned red at her touch.

When the bus got to the landing pad Nathan woke her up and told her they arrived. She was still sleepy and walked somewhat like a zombie causing Nathan to decide to go with her to make sure Ruby makes it back ok. Ruby passed out again on the flight to Beacon but this time not on Nathan. He looked out the window watching as they approached Beacon all lit up with its large clocktower.

When the bullhead touched down Nathan woke Ruby up again and helped her out of the dropship but she waved him off and was able to walk on her own. They talked some as they strolled up the sidewalk leading to Ruby's dorm building before she turned around to face Nathan.

"Well tonight was fun, we should do it again sometime." She said the last part around a yawn.

"Sure, but you better get to your room before you fall asleep on the stairs."

"Yeah yeah. See ya later Nate." She said going into the building.

Nathan left back the way they came and boarded up to head back into Vale. He just sat down when his scroll buzzed from a text, it was from Ruby.

"My team saw us together! So embarrassing I wanna die!"

Nathan laughed.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well since volume 6 just finished(for free) today I decided to post this early. Chapter 5 is already done, as usual it won't be going up until 6 is close to being finished. I'm really surprised so many people like my garbage story, 73 subs so far is beyond my wildest expectations! Also surprised my shoutout got a response from the story's author, don't know how he found out haha.**

Getting Ruby's amusing text she preceded to tell Nathan how her sister and Weiss were asking all kinds of questions about him. Ruby just told them Nathan was just a friend and the guy that spruced up Crescent Rose for her. She said they asked her other things but when Nathan asked what Ruby just answered "girl stuff." After a bit more back and forth Ruby said her goodnights and went to bed.

Nathan got back to the house/shop around 1 in the morning, coming into the living he saw his dad watching TV like he normally does on some nights. "Hey, you were out later than I thought you'd be."

"Yeah, Ruby was kinda drowsy so I escorted her back to her dorm." Answered Nathan locking up behind him.

"Did you get it in?" His dad said with a smirk.

"WHAT! No, she's not that kind of girl." Replied Nathan, his dad's question made him drop his keys.

His dad laughed that was soon followed by his mom coming into the living room. "What's with all the racket? It's one in the morning."

Nathan explained he was out with Ruby, the conversation devolved into an awkward and embarrassing lecture on safe sex from his parents. Nathan left for bed as soon as he could get away.

The next several days were mostly normal fair with some texting between Nathan and Ruby until Thursday afternoon.

"Hey Nate, do you have a lot of reference books? I got a report I'm doing on shifting weapons and I need a source. Teach won't let us use the internets : ("

"Yeah I got plenty in the shop, you coming by?"

"Ya, just have to get my stuff together and I'll be right over 😊"

"Ok, see you in a bit."

Nathan glanced at his neat and organized bookshelf, he suspected it won't stay that way for long. Getting some cookies in case he needed to do some Ruby-wrangling might be a good idea. Securing said sweets he mostly sat on BookofFaces as he waited until Ruby showed up, it was just then he realized he hasn't friended her on there and sent a friend request. He was surprised it was accepted minutes later, Nathan supposed Ruby was sitting on the bullhead already.

He didn't know Ruby had arrived until she knocked on his workshop door before opening it. "Your dad let come back here andddddd SOOO MANY GUNNNSSS!"

She was referring to Nathan's collection of weapons on the wall in the workshop, some he built himself, others he bought. He was somewhat stunned as well since he hasn't seen Ruby in her Beacon uniform before, he had a "thing" for school girls.

Ruby had pretty much forgot why she came to the shop in the first place as she zoomed from weapon to weapon looking at them. Nathan sighed expecting this to happen and then he saw Ruby examining his latest creation. "Be careful with that one, I'm still working on it."

Ruby hefted a chunky black and olive drab rifle with wires hooked to a laptop. "What is it, what does it do?"

"It's a pulse rifle(M41A), it shoots armor-piercing explosive tipped caseless ammunition along with an underbarrel pump-action grenade launcher." He said before picking up a grenade round. "I've only loaded it up with fire dust rounds, haven't tried others yet."

"Hmm, what's its melee attack?" Ruby asked as she sighted down the rifle aiming at something on the wall.

"Well I can probably beat a smaller Grimm to death with it."

"I suppose that's a way." She said with a giggle.

"Now before we nerd out you said you needed some books?"

"Yes! Anything you have on shifting weapons." Said Ruby as she moved towards the bookshelf.

She saw quite a variety of mostly reference books such as Dust for Dolts, The Grimm Encyclopedia and Jane's Smallarms of Remnant. Ruby fingered through a couple mostly looking at the ones with the high gloss color pictures. She finally settled on his beat-up copy of Atlas Mechatronics, that book happened to have a chunky section on the principles of transforming weaponry including some detailed schematics of some of the earliest known examples.

Ruby pulled some paper and a pen out of her pack and started taking notes, Nathan took notice of her rather poor and childlike handwriting including doodles. He let her do her school work on the shop carpet she decided to sit on when she started taking notes not wanting to interrupt her studies. Nathan munched on one of the cookies he brought but the crunching noises drew Ruby's attention. "Can I have two or twenty? I need brain food."

Nathan brought her the whole plate. "Want anything to drink?"

"Milk or soda please."

He retrieved a can of soda from the kitchen fridge as they were out of milk at the moment, a little caffeine can't hurt. Nathan handed her the ice cold can and saw Ruby had killed the cookie pile on the plate already. "Hungry?"

"Hmm? Nah, just wanted to get the energy in my veins." She said as she wrote faster and more illegibly.

Nathan sat down in a nearby chair and just messed around on his scroll with occasional looks at Ruby, he thought she looked especially cute when her tongue would stick slightly out the corner of her mouth when she was concentrating. Then Ruby shifted to working on her stomach with her legs slowly kicking backing and forth. This wasn't a "problem" except from the angle where Nathan was sitting, he could almost see up her skirt.

"Uhh, Ruby. You might want to move a little to the side." Nathan said slightly red.

"Huh, why?...oh!" She rolled at and angle away from Nathan when she realized what he was talking about, her face almost as red as her cloak.

"I'm sorry…I didn't see anything."

Ruby waved it away with a smile. "It's alright, it was my fault for not paying attention to how I'm studying. I've only really done it more causal around my team that are all girls so that isn't an issue."

"How is the note taking coming along?" Nathan asked trying to change the subject to help clear the lewd thoughts.

"I'm almost done, just a few more notes and I'm gonna take some pics for later." She says this as she pulls out her scroll and snaps a few pages in the book before getting up and sliding it back in the shelf. "Done! Now we can get our geek on!"

Ruby in flash snatched up Nathan's prototype rifle. "CanIshootitcanIshootitcanIshootit!" Ruby rapidly said as she clutched the gun in a hug-like embrace.

He couldn't say no to that face. "Sure, let me grab a couple mags and a grenade so you get to shoot both."

"Awesome!" She answered going to the indoor range.

Nathan showed Ruby how to load the pulse rifle and the controls including the digital ammo counter on the right side that read out as 95 rounds. She took aim at one of the beowolf shaped targets and flipped the safety off, a rapid burst erupted from the rifle shredding the target. She followed up with a couple more bursts and finishing with the grenade round sitting the targets on fire.

"Have you tried this on real Grimm yet?" Ruby asked.

"Nope, no live combat yet. Just some test firing on the range."

"Maybe we should do some hunting sometime and see how it is for real." Said a smiling Ruby.

"Could do it on a weekend if you want."

"Yeah, if I'm free this weekend we can go kill us some baddies."

"Sounds good, could be some decent training for you too."

"Yup, wanna get dinner before I gotta head back?"

"Cookies weren't enough?"

"I live off more than cookies you know." Ruby said sticking her tongue out at him.

Nathan snickered. "Ok, but we're having pizza this time."

The two left for a nearby pizza buffet restaurant, when they got to their table in a corner booth Ruby had a plate stacked with pizza like they were pancakes.

"Got enough?" Nathan asked eyeing the meal that dwarfed his own.

"Probably." She simply answered before digging in.

Ruby continued her usual method of eating: messily devouring. Slices of pizza were disappearing as quickly as she could grab them. Nathan just ate at a more sedate pace actually tasting the food. She even got another plate after the first.

"Do all huntsmen and huntresses have similar appetites as you?"

"Some, I think some people's semblances require more nutrients to work properly." She replied nomming on a slice.

"Hmm, I should read up more on aura and semblances. Come in handy if I every unlock mine."

"Well for that it usually has to be something dramatic, whatever triggers it is different from person to person."

They talked some more on semblances and finished eating with Nathan offering to go with Ruby to Beacon like last weekend, which she accepted so the trip wouldn't be boring. During the flight Ruby pulled out her scroll. "Let's take a picture together."

"Uhh sure."

Ruby got close to him and held the scroll away from them. "Smile!"

Nathan did an awkward smile at being told to do one on demand and because of the closeness of Ruby. She took the pic and shared it to BookofFaces. Not long later their picture got a comment which Nathan saw as well since he was tagged in the post.

"Oh Oum, Yang thinks we're dating. I think she'll try to kill you." Said Ruby slightly embarrassed and joking.

"Would us dating be a bad thing?" He asked very nervously.

"What!" Yelled Ruby with a blush.

"I mean…gah, I'm an idiot."

"I'm sorry, it just surprised me is all. W..we could try it….if you want." Ruby was very red and looking away from Nathan.

"Y..yeah, we can just take it slow, no rushing." Nathan was sweating.

Ruby suddenly got a mischievous smile. "Now I can hold this over my team." She goes and changes her relationship status from single to in a relationship. Then her scroll blew up from messages and notifications.

"Sounds like you'll have fun when you get back." Nathan smiled.

"Yeah, I'll be the only one on my team with a guy, though I think Blake might be seeing someone."

"Do I have to worry about your sister or is she just being protective?"

"That depends on how you treat me." She said smiling.

 **Gripes, bitches, complaints? Let me know.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welp here's Chapter 5, 6 is done. I blame you guys on why I'm writing now, you push me to keep this story going. I honestly thought it would've died by now but here we are still getting more of my hot garbage. Anyways (points MP5 menacingly) my captive audience you're in for a treat this chapter, enjoy. Rooster Teeth owns everything but my OCs, if I owned Rooster Teeth we'd have several RWBY games by now, I want my RWBY RPG damnit!**

Spending Thursday night and a chunk of Friday fabricating ammo for his pulse rifle Nathan was all set for the Grimm hunt on Saturday with Ruby. Would this be considered a date since he and Ruby are in a "relationship" now? Probably not, dates are supposed to be fun. After he dropped Ruby off he got all kinds of texts from her about her friends and sister's reaction to them dating, most were positive or they couldn't believe the quirky girl would be with someone other than her scythe. Though Nathan did wonder if they were giving her any "advice" on relationships, Ruby had said Yang and Blake had some experience. What that experience entailed he didn't know. From what Ruby told him about Weiss being prim and proper maybe she'll teach Ruby table manners.

He geared up to meet Ruby in the same patch of forest they fought each other in. Ruby already texted him letting him know she is already on the way there. He was dressed in the same gear he wore when he fought Ruby but with the addition of body armor along with shin and arm guards. Spare mags for his pulse rifle and grenade rounds are carried on his belt. Nathan made his way to the woods riding the bus to the city's outskirts.

Once there he hiked through the foliage to see Ruby leaning with her back against a tree near the clearing, Nathan approached her and waved.

"Hey, finally made it. I was starting to get bored, ready to go kill something?" Ruby said as she rested Crescent Rose on her shoulder.

Nathan checked over the pulse rifle and made sure it was all set to go. "Yup, so how are we going to find Grimm?"

"Well we could start thinking negative thoughts but I think that'll take too long. I did some research online about this area and there's supposed to be some ancient ruins near here, we can try checking there."

"Did this research give a general location?" Nathan asked doubtfully.

Ruby smirked. "Actually yes, I loaded it onto my scroll. It's around 2 kilometers northeast from here." She said holding up her phone which was on navigation mode.

"Lead the way brave huntress." Nathan said jokingly motioning forward with his rifle.

Ruby blazed a trail through the clearing they fought in in the direction of the ruins. Nathan was scanning left and right for any Grimm. He hasn't been on many Grimm hunts, only a few with his mother when she gave him some rudimentary training. To say he was nervous was an understatement, having only killed a few beowolves and creeps, certainly not any urasi.

The forest got noticeably thicker and darker as they moved with more brush on the ground and interlocking branches above keeping out sunlight. Ruby didn't give any sign that she noticed but Nathan was starting to get the creeps, looking in every direction more quickly. Ruby did notice his behavior. "Hey, you alright Nate?" She asked with a look of concern.

"Y..yeah, just these woods are starting to get to me." He replied without looking at her but instead outwards.

Ruby put a hand on his shoulder causing him to tense-up until he realized it was her. "We'll be alright, if you want….I can hold your hand?" She said blushing slightly.

"Uhh…sure." Nathan said turning a little red as well before Ruby grasped his left hand with her right.

To be honest Nathan was feeling a little better knowing he had a huntress-in-training right next to him and literally in arms reach. He still kept alert, holding the pulse rifle with one hand was a bit awkward though. After awhile of walking Ruby jerked his hand slightly and she pointed ahead, there was a large stepped pyramid structure made of black stone with small trees and moss growing on it. "I think we found it." She said putting her scroll away.

Nathan let go of Ruby's hand and he thought he caught a look of disappointment on her face for a second but she quickly changed to a more serious demeanor. They moved to the pyramid and ascended the large crumbling steps with still no Grimm in sight. Reaching the top they could see a fair distance around and even above some of the trees. "I guess the Grimm moved on from here." Said Nathan slumping slightly.

"Give it a moment, they might be crawling out to meet us." Said Ruby looking down at the base of the pyramid.

True to Ruby's word a group consisting of creeps and a few beowolves emerged out of the forest. Ruby smiled at seeing her new prey. "Cover me from up here but be careful with those dust grenades, my aura can only take so much damage."

Nathan nodded before she jumped down from the pyramid in a rose petal tornado, with her either decapitating or cleaving in half any Grimm unfortunate enough to get in her path leaving dissolving corpses in her wake.

Taking aim with his rifle Nathan fired several bursts at a beowolf ripping through its thick hide and bone armor, it started to evaporate before even falling to the ground. Switching to a group of creeps that were moving on Ruby's flank while she was busy with a couple beowolves he fired a fire dust grenade into their midst. He watched as they were enveloped in flames, shrieking and writhing on the ground before they died.

Ruby gave a thumbs-up to him after she finished off the beowolves before joining back up with him at the top of the pyramid with all the Grimm dead. "That was fun, we should take a picture." She said pulling out her scroll.

Ruby got close to Nathan again and snapped a picture. "I wonder if they'll think you're a huntsman now with you taking down Grimm with me." Ruby said as she posted their picture.

"I don't think I'm cut out for that line of work, you saw how I was back there." He stated.

"Yeah but don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I was the same way when I first started, scared of every tree and bush."

Nathan didn't believe her, he didn't think Ruby was afraid of anything. She then grabbed his hand again. "I do like this though." She said with a shade of light pink on her cheeks.

"I…I do too." He replied smiling. The pair descended the stone structure back the way they came with Ruby talking about their fight with the Grimm making kung-fu and shooting noises along with it. Nathan chuckled and smiled at her enthusiasm with it all.

Re-entering the clearing they stopped for a quick break with Ruby setting down her pack. "Want a snack? I packed some munchies just in case we stayed out awhile." She asked holding out a sandwich.

Nathan accepted it, "Yeah, the hike through all that brush drained me."

She sat down taking bites out of her quick meal with Nathan following suit. There was a strong breeze, a sign that fall weather will soon be in Remnant though the trees haven't started turning brown yet. Nathan laid back listening to the wind after he finished eating his sandwich, he almost thought he was going to fall asleep until Ruby started talking. "I think it's starting to rain."

As soon as she said that Nathan felt a drop hit him on the nose soon to be followed by several more on his face. "We should get back before it starts pouring."

Leaving the clearing back to Vale they got soaked in the heavy rain before the bus picked them up. Ruby was shivering in the seat next to Nathan. He didn't have a way to help her dry off so he risked it and pulled her close to him to try and warm her up. Ruby let out a small gasp at his action but didn't resist, her face was a dark red but Nathan couldn't see because she was looking away. Her shivering started to die down but it was still there.

"Want to stop by my place before you head back to at least get some dry clothes on?" He asked her.

"I didn't bring spares." She said looking at him.

"That's ok, you can just borrow some of mine to wear back."

"A..alright." She answered.

The bus dropped them off near the shop with the two running through the rain to get in. Nathan's dad was behind the counter dealing with a customer so didn't have the chance to be snide as they went into the home portion of the store and into Nathan's room. Ruby looked around examining the place, looking at his computer, some models he built or was in the "it'll get done eventually pile" and some posters. Nathan got out some clothes for Ruby to change into, just a simple black t-shirt and some old urban camo combat pants. "You can use the shower first, I'll wait."

"Good, I get all the hot water." Said Ruby excitedly taking the clothes from Nathan and entering his bathroom.

Nathan started removing his armor as he heard the shower turn on, after that the camo top and boots. He removed his undershirt as well. He took a seat on top of his towel on the bed and waited for Ruby to finish. He did wonder if it was normal to have a cute girl using your shower, especially when they just started dating.

Nathan heard the shower turn off and soon Ruby was walking out drying off her hair. He should've gave her a belt too as the pants were being held up by her free hand. The shirt wasn't much better, much too large on her with it slipping down exposing her left shoulder. Ruby was very embarrassed about the whole situation but was just glad to be dry even if she was at risk of showing off that she was going commando under the borrowed pants. He gave her a belt before entering the shower, it was a good thing he decided not to strip to his boxers before going in because Ruby would've noticed the bulge in his pants.

There was still some hot water left thankfully and Nathan quickly cleaned and warmed himself in it. Once done he dried off and put on a plain dark blue t-shirt and brown cargo pants and walked out to see Ruby playing with one of his model airplanes. "Hey ace, you got all your clothes together?"

"Yep, I packed them in the bag. I'll just give these clothes back next time I see you." She answered. Nathan was starting to suspect he won't be seeing his clothes again.

"Welp, lets get you home." Said Nathan when he started putting his boots back on, Ruby did the same.

They just barely made it into the living room when Nathan's mom caught them. "So this is Ruby and she's already wearing your clothes? That's so cute!"

"Mom, please…."

"What? Don't you think she's cute?" His mom asked a loaded question and she knew it.

"Y-Yes…I do." He answered the last part more quietly.

"And what about you Ruby?" She asked the nervous girl.

"Wha..?" Ruby just wanted to get back to Beacon, not be asked awkward questions, she gets enough of those from her team and friends lately.

"Do you think Nate is cute?" His mom asked. The question causing him to look away.

"Uhhhhhhh…yes." Ruby mumbled her answer while putting on a nervous smile.

"Well as long as you two are careful it should be fine." His mother said with a happy smile.

"Careful?" Ruby asked. Nathan didn't know if Ruby was truly that naïve or just simply didn't understand.

Nathan's mom did a gesture of inserting her index finger into a hole made from her opposite hand's index finger and thumb. This made Ruby's whole body turn a darker shade of red than her cloak. "Oum-damnit mom!"

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter done. 7 is pretty much done as well except for a few minor things. Anyways Rooster Teeth owns everything except OCs.**

After the debacle with his mother and Ruby Nathan got her back to Beacon and returned home. His parents were now under the impression they had slept together no matter how much he denied it. Ruby also texted him about the teasing from her teammates when they saw her come in wearing Nathan's clothes. She even mentioned that Yang was about to set out to kill Nathan until Ruby explained what happened with the weather and clothes getting wet.

For awhile Nathan and Ruby mostly just texted each other and sent memes or pictures to each other. She mostly was busy with school work and training with her team or doing small missions. Nathan kept himself busy with working at the shop and tinkered with his rifle in his off time.

Since fall started it became necessary for Nathan to rake the leaves produced by the tree in their small backyard. He was just finishing up raking the latest batch of the red leaves when something of a different shade of red jumped into the pile yelling "WEEEEEEEE!"

Nathan knew it could only be Ruby, sure enough he saw her up to her shoulders in the middle of the partially scattered leaf pile. "Hey Nate!" She said waving.

He facepalmed, "Hey Ruby, I was almost done you know."

"I know and it made such a good cushion to land on." She replied smiling as she got up. Ruby wasn't wearing her usual black and red dress but opting for a more causal blue jeans and red hoodie though she still had her trademark cloak on.

"You look different." Nathan said with a raised eyebrow.

She started to rub the back of her head. "Yeah, it's laundry day and this was all that I had left because I don't normally wear stuff Yang picks out for me."

"It looks good on you…though I like your regular look more." Nathan said nervously scratching his cheek.

"I do too, pants are so confining sometimes compared to a combat skirt." She said as she twirled in a circle. This caused Nathan to notice how much the pants clung to Ruby's body when her back was to him giving him a good view of her behind.

"Well uh, whatcha doing here?" He asked as he started to rake up the leaves again.

"I wanted to see you silly. I've been so busy with school we haven't got to hang out in a while. So what are you doing when you're done with this." Ruby said looking at him expectantly.

"Not much now, was going to work on my rifle some but now that you're here looks like that's not happening." He said making a small grin.

"Who says? I can help you with that." She stated with her hands on her hips.

"I suppose you can, I'm just testing out ice and electric dust grenades I cooked up today."

"Ok, maybe we can work on my baby too." She said patting Crescent Rose stowed on her lower back.

When they got to the workshop Nathan picked up the pulse rifle and several of the grenades he wanted to try out. Unlike the early fire dust rounds that were identified by a red color these were a light blue or yellow. He loaded the ice dust rounds into the grenade launcher's magazine tube at the bottom of the pulse rifle and racked the pump chambering a round. "Which target you think?" He asked Ruby.

"Maybe the human targets?" She answered pointing at a couple of them on the range.

Nathan pointed the rifle at them and fired off a round, the target exploded with small snow and ice particles freezing two targets in a thin layer of ice. He racked the pump and fired again, the human targets were coated with another layer of ice from the dust round.

"Seems repeated shots are more effective than individual." Observed Ruby rested her chin on her hand in thought.

"Maybe need to rework the formula." Nathan said mostly to himself, making a note for later.

He then loaded up the lightning dust rounds. "Which one now Ruby?"

"I wanna see what it does to the beowolf."

He aimed and fired, the round hit and electricity surged over the target's form for a few seconds before it jumped to the nearby targets and covered them with electrical sparks for a split second and were gone.

"I wonder how it jumped to the other targets, maybe because they're steel targets? Could be handy if I ever had to fight Atlas combat robots or mechs I guess."

"Could be useful against aquatic Grimm, so long as you're not in the water with them." Ruby said with a giggle.

"Heh, so you said you wanted to work on your weapon?" Nathan asked putting his rifle back on the work table.

"Yeah, I think I may have bent the barrel slightly during a mission because it keeps hitting far right even after I adjusted my scope as far as I can to compensate for it."

"Let's see, take a few shots on the long range."

At the right end of the range there was a tunnel that angled slightly underground in a slope for a distance of 300 meters. Ruby equipped Crescent Rose in its sniper configuration and aimed at one of the two bullseye targets down range and fired. Nathan watched her shot hit the tunnel wall more than halfway down the range.

"Do it again." He said. Ruby fired again with a similar result.

"May I see your weapon?" He asked her which she handed the sniper-scythe to him.

Nathan unloaded and first checked the scope to be sure it was secure on its mount, no budge. Then he disassembled the weapon and looked down the barrel, there was no bulges or damaged rifling he could see so he took it over to a laser scanning device that could detect any damage he could not with his eyes. He scanned it along the barrel's length and it gave back a response that it was indeed bent. The bend was difficult to spot by eye and it wouldn't have too much of an effect on accuracy at closer distances but would become more apparent the further out you fire the weapon.

"Well you were right in it being bent, just barely." He said.

"Hmm, think you can make a new one for me?" Ruby asked flashing the puppy eyes.

He sighed "I hate when you do that." Nathan said as he grabbed a barrel blank to start shaping it to match Crescent Rose's profile.

"Whatever do you mean?" Ruby says in mock innocence.

Nathan didn't say anything causing Ruby to make a small laugh as he got to work on the barrel. The process was faster than the first time so it only took him a couple hours to complete the part and install it into Ruby's weapon. "Wanna do the honors?" He offered allowing her to make the first shots with a virgin barrel.

"Sure, but I'll need to reset my scope first." She said as he handed her Crescent Rose.

Ruby set up and fired several rounds through the rifle mode with the shots landing consistently in the lower left of the bullseye target. She adjusted the scope and fired again, she hit the center of the target now. After storing her weapon she hugged Nathan taking him by surprise. "Thanks Nate, my baby is back to perfection!"

He wrapped his arms around her. "S-sure thing Rubes."

"Rubes?" She said looking up at him while also realizing she just hugged Nathan making her blush.

"Don't like it?" He asked as he let her go.

"Its not that, just didn't think you'd have a nickname for me."

"What about Little Red?"

"Rubes it is." She answered sighing. "Well I have to get back, Weiss wanted to study with me in the library to make sure my grades don't drop…again."

"I'll walk you there…Rubes."

"You're going to make me hate that name aren't you Nate?"

On the way to the dropship launchpads they stopped to grab some hotdogs from a street vendor to eat on the walk over so they munched more than talked for a portion of the walk. Ruby mostly chatted about how school was going and some of her shenanigans at Beacon. They then decided next weekend to do another spar as Nathan wanted to get some training in and going against Ruby was less intimidating as a professional teacher with her causal attitude.

"I was wondering, when do I get my clothes back?" Nathan asked as they boarded the bullhead.

"Eventually, they're getting washed with my clothes."

"You aren't using my shirt as nightwear are you?"

"NO!...Maybe." Ruby answered pushing her two index fingers together nervously.

"Heh, fine you can keep the shirt but can I at least get the pants back?"

"Alright, they're way too big for me anyway." She said when they sat down for the flight.

The trip was mostly normal, the two watched some UnrememberedArms videos on Nathan's scroll until the bullhead touched down at Beacon's landing pad. When the two were walking towards Ruby's dorm building she was unusually quiet for most of the walk only giving one or two word answers when he was talking to her. He looked over at her and Ruby seemed to be thinking about something and her face was a light shade of red and he thought she might be sweating a little.

"Ruby, you ok?" He asked when they were in front of the dorm.

"Uhhh." Ruby stuttered before suddenly jumping forward and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "ThanksforfixingCrescentRoseI'llseeyoulaterbye!" The girl disappeared in a flurry of rose petals towards her dorm.

Nathan placed a hand on the cheek Ruby kissed and for some reason he got the sense he was being watched and could smell ozone. "Don't think its going to storm?" He muttered to himself about the clear skies.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ding chapter done! Chapter 8 is mostly done, took longer than most because I had writer's block but pushed through it. Passed 100 subs, I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I get a notification of a new follower so thanks for stroking my ego haha. I'm surprised that some of you are praising my lightheartedness and humor because usually I'm into grimdark stuff(anyone that played Muv-Luv or is into Warhammer40000 knows what I'm talking about), I guess there is a lot more gloomy RWBY fanfics than I thought. As a reward for reading my crap this far look up JPDE, it's a RWBY fan project game that plays like a visual novel with RPG and dating sim elements, so you too can date Ruby Rose and/or most of the female cast. It's a work in progress but you can get fairly far in it and they seem to update it regularly. Anyways Rooster Teeth owns everything but my OCs.**

"So that was a thing." Nathan texted Ruby on his way to the bullhead.

"You're not mad are you?"

"No, just didn't expect it."

There was a span of no messages until he boarded and the bullhead took off back to Vale.

"Did you like it?" She asked.

Nathan didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"I can do it more if you want :3 Just not in front of Yang again."

"She saw?"

"Yup, her eyes were red when I got back to my room."

"Her eyes were red?"

"Its part of her semblance, I'll tell you about it later."

"She's not on the warpath to Vale is she?"

There was a disturbingly long pause. "No, she's mostly calmed down now thanks to Blake."

"Why is she so upset? You were the one that kissed me."

"Yang thinks we've done more than kiss, like your parents. I just hoped she hasn't told dad yet."

"Why?"

"He's more protective than she is. Gotta go, talk to ya later!"

Later that weekend Nathan and Ruby were back facing off against each other in the clearing with the girl usually winning their bouts. Then Ruby decided it would be fun to run off into the forest to hide from Nathan making him have to search for her. Nathan tracked her using the rose petals she'd left behind when using her semblance to run from him.

Nathan moved slowly trying to keep his gear from making noise and to avoid stepping on anything on the forest floor that could give him away. He always kept watch for any possible ambushes from the reaper including the trees above him, he rubbed his head remembering the last time Ruby attacked from above.

Through the foliage Nathan thought he could see something red so approached cautiously until he was roughly 70 meters from the red object. It looked like Ruby's cloak, he moved half the distance closer. Ruby seemed to be standing still with her back to him, he smirked and slowly took aim with his pulse rifle. He was just about to squeeze the trigger when he heard a rustling in the bush directly to his right.

Ruby popped up minus cloak with an evil grin on her face and her scythe poised to strike. "Surprise!"

"Clever girl.." Was all that Nathan could say as he tried to bring his rifle around but Ruby was on him in a flash.

But instead of an attack Ruby had Nathan pinned to the ground with her pushing the shaft of Crescent Rose across the neck to keep him from moving. "Got ya~." She said before pelting his cheeks and forehead with kisses before Nathan could react.

"Rubes?"

"Hmm?" Ruby stopped the assault of kisses.

"Where did that come from?"

"I finished reading my books and Blake let me borrow some of hers. I got the idea from one of those."

"What was the book?"

Ruby blushed slightly. "Ninjas of Love."

"That's one of those smut novels isn't it?" He asked.

Ruby's blush adopted a darker shade. "Yes." She said quietly.

"So what happens now?" Nathan asks with Ruby still on top of him, her face hovering just over his.

"Let's just uhhh call it my win." Ruby said getting off him and offering to pull him up which he gripped her hand but pulled her back down to him making her let out a small squeak.

"You're not the only one with surprises." He said before kissing Ruby on the lips. She had a brief look of surprise but that soon disappeared with Ruby pulling his head towards her so he couldn't stop. After about a minute she finally relented and let him go.

"And where did you learn that?" She asked looking up at him.

"As embarrassing as he is from my dad. When we started dating he would tell me stories about when he and mom starting dating. I just adapted one of the moves he used on my mom that worked."

"Well….it certainly worked." Ruby stated with a red face.

"Wanna call it a draw?" Nathan asked her.

"Uhhh sure, but only because you got me at the end. I still won the fight!"

Nathan chuckled as he got up and helped Ruby to her feet. "You said you brought snacks right?"

"Yup, fresh cookies! I baked them last night." She answered proudly.

Nathan liked the sound of that. He could say he got to taste two sweet things today, though he suspected only one of those would give him diabetes.

Back at their usual clearing they sat down for their lunch with Ruby pulling out a plastic container filled with chocolate-chip cookies with extra chips….and probably extra sugar. She gave him a handful to try with her watching expectantly. Nathan took a bite of the first cookie, it was as tasty as he expected. Though maybe not as sweet as Ruby but pretty close considering she made it.

"Delicious, aren't you going to eat some?" He asked before eating another.

"Well I wanted to see if you liked them first. I don't usually taste test sweets when I make them because I end up eating them." He said giggling.

"Wait, so I was your test subject?"

"More or less." Ruby said before munching a cookie. "Oh, these are good!"

"You're an evil girl." He said.

"That's what Weiss tells me when we play Remnant." Ruby smiled as she mentioned the world domination game.

"So evil Rubes what do you wanna do after we eat?"

"I bet we'll think of something and." Ruby stops to lick the corner of Nathan's mouth. "You have chocolate on your face." Making him very red.

"I-I think you've been reading Ninjas of Love too much."

"I've also been talking to Blake more too. She can actually be pretty open about…that stuff." Ruby said blushing.

"I didn't think girls talked about that stuff?"

"Oh we do! We're just more lowkey." She said smirking.

"I hope you aren't sharing too many details with your friends." He said half-jokingly.

"No no, it's awkward enough as it is." She said holding her arms out in front of her making a stop gesture.

"Maybe they'll get boyfriends now because of you." He said.

"Hmm maybe, Yang's always out on weekend nights. Blake is the same always disappearing. As for Weiss well there's Jaune but she shoots him down every time."

"Harsh, why?"

"Because she's an ice queen." Ruby said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, one of those. Maybe someone will thaw her out eventually."

"Yeah, maybe you can do it." Ruby said sarcastically.

"Dork." He said as he pulled her hood down over her face.

"Hey!"

Nathan laughed at her. She pushed him over but he got up and pushed her back and Ruby giggled a little.

"Huh?" Wondering why she giggled when he pushed on her.

"I'm a little ticklish on my stomach." Ruby's statement made him produce an evil grin. "What?" She said at the look.

Nathan preceded to assault her belly with a tickle attack, it was super effective.

"NOOO HAHAHAHA NATE STOP! HAHAHAHA NATE!" Ruby struggled to get away from him.

"I now know your weakness." Nathan said in his impression of a super villain voice.

He continued until Ruby used her semblance to escape with her holding her stomach. "Oww my belly."

"I have to win sometimes." Nathan said laughing.

"No fair meanie."

"Who said fights have to be fair?"

Ruby made a pouty face which made Nathan chuckle. "You're adorable Rubes."

"You know it, now feed me since you were being so mean."

"I'm not gonna-"

"Food servant!"

He sighed. "Fine, I'll get your cookies."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered in triumph before being fed the rest of her cookies by Nathan.

After Nathan got done imitating an animal feeder and counting all his fingers to make sure he still had all ten the two packed up for the trek back to Vale. When they eventually got on the bus Ruby got a text from Yang. "We're having a dance coming up and my team is going to help set up. Ugh, I'm not good at social stuff."

"At least you won't be doing it alone." Nathan said trying to be positive.

"Hey, do you wanna go to the dance with me? I'll get to show you off to my friends."

"Is it safe and am I even allowed to go?"

"There's students there from the other huntsmen academies and I think outsiders can be invited. So I'm inviting you, as for safe well…." Ruby trailed off.

"I'm not going to get into a fight am I?" He said with a deadpan.

"Noooooo….maybe." Ruby tried to sound innocent.

"So bring a weapon? Got it."

"Just come in the fanciest duds you got, if you're gonna come packing make sure you can hide it at least."

"I'll have to some digging, when is the dance?"

"Next week Sunday night."

"I wonder what you'd look like in a dance dress or are you wearing your regular stuff?"

"Probably be something Yang picks out, I hope it doesn't involve heels. Can't walk or run in those things like Weiss."

"Heh, can't say I'm not nervous about meeting your sister from all the horror stories you told me."

"Oooh don't worry about it." Ruby said trying to wave away his worries. "The most she'd do is break your arms."

"Not my legs?"

"No we have Nora for that." Ruby said with a smile.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I decided to post this early due to it being Valentines Day and Chapter 9 is done. I hope you guys spend your Valentines Day with your special someone today, if it is Singles Awareness Day for you then spend it with your waifu/husband.**

It was the night of the dance and Nathan was getting his suit together with his father's help. It was a light grey in color with a black necktie, his father made him complete the ensemble with a brown trench coat and matching brown wide brimmed fedora. He thought he looked like a mobster so his father relented from making him wear the extras this time.

"Looking pretty sharp, not as good as me when I was your age but not too bad." His father said more to himself than to Nathan as he looked him over.

"Smile." Nathan's mom said as she flashed a scroll his way and took a picture before he could react.

"Mom, I'm not going off to war, it's just a dance!"

"Just a dance he says." Nathan's dad remarked.

"You better be careful, huntresses tend to be a bit more…..aggressive." His mother said. "Your father should know." She finished with a grin towards his dad.

"She's not lying, hopefully Ruby will take good care of you." He said with a wink.

"S-shut up dad." He said walking towards the door to leave.

"Have fun!" His mother said as he walked out the door.

Nathan took the usual bus to the launch pad and boarded a bullhead to Beacon. He sent Ruby a text to let her know he was on the way so she could meet him at the landing pad. She answered that she'll be waiting. Nathan wondered what kind of dress will Ruby be wearing, also if his sister was going to maim him somehow.

When the bullhead landed Nathan saw Ruby standing nearby waiting in a red dress, when he got out he walked towards her with her doing the same albeit awkwardly. "Stupid heels." She muttered.

"Ruby…wow. Never expected to see you in something like that." He said looking her up and down.

She blushed slightly. "It was Yang's second pick, the first one was far too….revealing for me."

"I take it she's not a modest girl?" He said.

"Oh no! She's very comfortable with her body….and showing it off." Ruby said looking down towards her chest.

Nathan grabbed her hand. "You look good to me. You don't have to change anything about yourself, I like you as you are."

Ruby squeezed his hand and looked back up at him. "Y-you mean it?"

"Of course." As soon as he said that she hopped up and gave him a quick kiss.

"Well uh let's head inside, you can meet my team and some of my friends."

They entered into a ballroom filled with students either dancing or socializing with a few less social butterflies on the sidelines. Ruby led Nathan to a blond girl that looked vaguely familiar and she took notice of him. "So this is your boy toy you've been hangin with?" Yang says with a smirk.

"Yang! He's not like one of those guy friends you sometimes have, he's nice." Ruby said defending him.

"Nice huh?" Yang offered Nathan her hand. "Yang Xiao Long, her sister."

He took her hand which she crushed in a death grip. "N-Nathan Carter. From the pictures you and Ruby don't look anything alike."

"Half-sisters." Yang said releasing his hand which he proceeded to rub. "Same dad, different moms."

"Quite a grip you have."

"I fight with my fists, you could say I'm a hands-on fighter." Yang said with a wink.

"So a brawler, don't see too many of those come into my shop."

"Most people don't like to fight that close but my semblance benefits from it so it's cool with me."

"What is it?" Nathan asked.

Yang winked again. "That's a secret…..unless you piss me off."

"I'll go get Weiss so you can meet her." Ruby said excusing herself to retrieve the heiress leaving Nathan alone with the brawling dragon lady who stepped closer to him.

"You're probably a decent enough guy if Rubes likes you but she can be a bit naïve, so if you break her heart I'll hurt you…bad." Yang said emphasizing her fists making her eyes briefly flash red.

Nathan made a small gulp. "S-sure Yang." He said putting his arms in front of him. "I don't want to do anything to make her sad…..or you angry."

"You wouldn't like it when I'm Yangry." She put on a smile. "Now I promised my partner a dance, so have fun but I'll be keeping an eye on you." Yang said as she walked towards a raven-haired girl dancing with a blond faunus guy.

Ruby soon returned with a pale white-haired girl with ice blue eyes, she seemed somewhat familiar as well be but couldn't figure out where.

"Nate this is Weiss, Weiss this is Nate." Ruby said introducing them.

"So you're the dolt's boyfriend, what you see in her is beyond me but at least when she's with you I can get some peace and quiet. I suppose I should thank you for that." Weiss says with a smile and nod.

"I'm not that bad!" Ruby protested.

Nathan offered his hand for a shake hoping she won't try to crush it. "Nathan Carter."

She accepted, her hand felt icy to him. "Weiss Schnee."

"Schnee? THE Schnee? Like Schnee Dust Company Schnee?"

Weiss sighed expecting Nathan to dump Ruby right there and ask her out. "Yes that one."

"How come you didn't go to Atlas Academy?" He asked which somewhat surprised her.

"Family reasons." She simply said with a tone implying not to ask any further about that.

Trying to change the subject. "So where's your date? I'd imagine you'd have guys lining up to go with you."

"I have one but I don't know where he went…." Weiss tailed off until she spotted a blue-haired guy sporting goggles. "Oh, there he is. Well it was nice meeting and hope you have a good time." Weiss politely said as she left to meet that guy.

"I would introduce you to Blake but she's kinda busy right now." Ruby said pointing to her and Yang on the dance floor.

"Wanna dance out there or somewhere more private like upstairs?" He asked her.

"Upstairs, it'd be too embarrassing out there, worse with these lady stilts." She said motioning to her high-heels.

"Alright, but you think you can handle the stairs? I can carry you up if you want."

"Don't you dare! I'll get up there on my own thank you." Ruby's face was somewhat red at the thought of being seen carried by Nathan.

He made a small laugh at her expense.

Once the two were upstairs without any tragedies occurring they found a decent spot to start. The music was a slower beat so the dancing "should" be easier.

"So I guess we just do this?" Ruby said taking his hand and placing the other around Nathan's back with him doing the same but his hand on her lower back…but not too low, don't want to give Yang an excuse.

Both of them were blushing at this but were slowly getting into the rhythm, though Ruby did stumble every once in a while with Nathan catching her. Sometimes she would step on his feet but luckily Ruby isn't that heavy so didn't hurt too bad.

After about twenty minutes they started to get the hang of it with Ruby smiling more and fidgeting less and Nathan becoming more confident in his movements but they were started to get tired. "Wanna take a break?"

"Yeah, it's hot in here, should be cooler outside." Ruby said. They were both starting to sweat from the dancing and hot air produced by all the people in the ballroom.

Stepping into the crisp air of the balcony was a relief, Nathan leaned against the railing with Ruby following suit. "Have fun tonight?" She asked him.

"Minus Yang's scary sister routine yeah, I get to hang out with you after all, even if you did step on my toes."

Ruby raised a hand behind her head. "Yeah sorry about that, I'm not good at dancing by myself and a disaster with others."

"I think you did ok, though I'm a complete amateur myself heh. Want a reward for doing better?" He asked.

"Uh sure what?" She asked. Nathan lifted her up to sit her down on the cement railing and kissed her.

"How's that?" Nathan asked.

"I think you can do bet-whos that?" Ruby said pointing at a figure moving across the rooftops.

"Don't know but they seem suspicious." He said placing Ruby back onto the floor.

"Let's go see!" Ruby said pursuing

"What about your team?" Nathan asked following behind her.

"I think we can handle it."

The two followed the figure to the Vale CCT tower to see Atlas soldiers sprawled out on the ground, an obvious sign of an attack. Ruby uses her scroll to call her rocket weapon locker which startles Nathan not expecting a large metal box to fly out of the sky.

Ruby retrieves her scythe from the locker and cocks Crescent Rose's bolt. "Lets go." She said with a serious face.

Before they boarded the elevator more downed soldiers were observed with more signs of a struggle, Nathan assumed the authorities have been alerted. Once in the elevator going to the top floor Ruby turns to Nathan. "You have a weapon?"

"Of course." He answered withdrawing a small black dust pistol from his suit coat(Walther PPK) and checking the chamber to ensure its loaded.

When the doors opened at the top floor they slowly walked out with their weapons at the ready. "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" Ruby said as she stumbled a little in the heels.

A woman appeared from behind some of the computers wearing a black suit with a mask. "Hey! Who are you?" Nathan ordered aiming his pistol at her.

The woman scoffed and tossed dust crystals their way causing him and Ruby to go behind cover. Him and Ruby were just about to fire back when the second elevator door opened revealing a man in a white Atlas officer uniform, but when they turned back to the mystery woman she was gone.

"What are you two doing up here?" The officer demanded.

Nathan allowed Ruby to explain as she was a huntress while he was at most a militiaman. All three rode the elevator back down as Ruby recalled to the officer everything that led up to the brief hostilities at the top of the tower, thankfully Ruby omitted that she spotted the intruder while they were kissing.

The officer committed the findings to memory and then turned to Nathan. "And you, anything to add?"

"None sir, Ruby already covered everything that we know." He answered.

"Very well, Ms. Rose you'll report tomorrow to Professor Ozpin's office to brief him what you told me.

"Yes sir, are-are we free to go?" Ruby asked pensively.

"Yes, I will not be holding you two in custody." He answered as the doors opened and the three exited the elevator.

The two decided to part ways when they got to a nearby launchpad. Ruby told Nathan she might be out of contact for a bit because she was supposed to go on a mission starting the next day with her team for an unknown length of time. "Just text me when you can or send pictures." He said.

"You too, I don't want to get too bored." She said with a giggle.

"And…be careful, don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Ruby made a small blush at his concern. "Don't worry, I'm Ruby Rose: Huntress Extraordinaire. Slayer of Grimm and devourer of cookies!" She said with a smile.

"Heh, all the same." He said as he hugged her.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's 9, chapter 10 is in final draft. I enjoy reading some of your reviews, they amuse me. We'll be getting in Volume 3 in a couple chapters(not sure how many yet) and then well you all know that song and dance. I think some of ya'll will enjoy this chapter. As usual Rooster Teeth owns everything RWBY.**

With Ruby gone Nathan concentrated more on his work with a picture or text coming every once in a while. Ruby and Yang's dad delivered their dog Zwei in the mail apparently that Weiss had taken a liking too judging from some of the pictures Ruby sent. Strangely Blake didn't seem too fond of Zwei seeing how she was standing on her bunk in one picture.

After that he just received a quick text with a smiling selfie of Ruby before she went off on her mission. Now Nathan was alone with his work and his thoughts, he finished some customers' weapons that needed work and put the finishing touches on the pulse rifle mostly fixing some of the feed issues the weapon occasionally had.

The next day there was an alert that a breach had occurred with Grimm getting into Vale that was quickly dealt with by huntsmen and huntresses and Nathan soon learned Team RWBY played a part in the breach dealing with Grimm and White Fang terrorists. Ruby texted they were back but they were going to rest for the remainder of the day but she said she'll be by the next day.

When Ruby came to his place she met him in the shop room as he was just getting done with work. "Sup."

"Hey, heard about yesterday." Nathan said seeing her come in before giving Ruby a hug.

"Yeah, it was totally crazy with a train and Grimm and explosions! But I'm just glad we had help, if we didn't I don't know if we woulda won." Ruby said somewhat sadly at the end.

"You're here now right?" He said before kissing her. She pressed her body against him before he let her go. "So what's the occasion for the visit?"

"Well the semester is over and they're letting students go on vacation. Me and Yang are going back to see my dad in Patch, I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?" She asked rocking back and forth on her feet.

"I can but does you dad expect me to come along?"

"I asked him and he was cool with it if you don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"Uh sure, but isn't he afraid we'll…you know." Nathan said with a blush.

Ruby did so as well. "I-I don't know, maybe he's just trying to be mean and not let you use the couch."

"Not too mean if I can stay in your room." He answered.

"Also bring swim clothes, there's a heat wave going through Patch so we might be able to visit the beach while we're there."

This gave Nathan mental images of Ruby in swimwear, he couldn't wait to see her in that. "When are you guys leaving?"

"A couple days, Weiss already left for Atlas and I think Blake said she was going to stick around. I brought some of my stuff cause I was gonna stay with you for a bit." She said pointing at her bag.

"I suppose you ca-wait what?" He asked.

"I wanted to give Yang some space and I wanted to spend extra time with ya if you couldn't come." Ruby answered smiling.

"I guess you can have the bed, what do you want to do today?"

"I want to eat first and then maybe a movie or something?" She said.

"Ok, you can leave your stuff in my room and we can go."

They eventually made it to the pizza buffet visited previously and Ruby did her usual thing of eating everything in sight, Nathan supposed she missed breakfast. After that they went to a nearby theater to she an action movie Ruby wanted to see. Nathan bought her some overpriced candy because Ruby gave him the puppy eye treatment until he relented. As they sat down in the top back row he didn't notice Ruby hasn't put down the armrest separating them until she edged closer to him and held his hand around halfway through the movie. When the movie was over Ruby was talking a mile a minute about the movie including sound effects as they were leaving the theater into night time Vale.

They were getting hungry again so they stopped at a fast food place for some burgers, which Nathan was glad he didn't have to pay for everything this time. When they were walking back to his place Ruby was holding his hand for most of the trip but she was also walking very close to him which she hasn't really done that before.

Walking through the door Nathan was glad neither of his parents were there, he assumed they were in bed since it was after midnight. The two went upstairs to his room after he locked the front door. "You want to change first?" He asked her.

"Yeah, it won't take long." Ruby said as she went into the bathroom that was a part of his bedroom.

True to her word she came back out a few minutes later wearing a black t-shirt with a cartoonish beowolf on it and loose white sweatpants with pink roses on them. Ruby was also blushing a little. "Your turn."

Nathan went in and just striped down to his boxers, he thought of wearing a shirt but it was a warmer night so figured he'd be fine. When he came out Ruby's face turned very red. "Woah mama!"

"What?" Nathan said.

"N-nothing." Ruby muttered, embarrassed at her outburst upon seeing so much man flesh.

He thought it might've been more with the hungry look on Ruby's face but ignored it as he set up some stuff on the floor so he won't just have bare carpet to sleep on. Ruby crawled into his bed and rolled around a bit to get comfy under the covers. "Can you kill the light? I would but I don't wanna get up."

"Alright Rubes." He said hitting the light switch plunging the room into darkness with exception being the ambient light coming from the moon through his window.

Nathan laid down on his makeshift floor bed. "Night Rubes."

"Night Nate." Ruby answered from his bed.

He laid in the dark having a difficult time going to sleep knowing Ruby was there, she felt the same way and somewhat guilty at taking his bed. "Nate?"

"Yeah?" He said still wide awake.

"W-wanna c-come into b-bed?" She stammered.

Nathan wasn't sure how to answer that so told her the first thing that crossed his mind. "Yes."

Ruby scooted over and moved the covers out of the way so he could get in. He laid down facing towards Ruby with her facing him. Nathan's heart was beating so loud he could hear it in his head and he thought he could almost hear Ruby's. She moved closer to him and kissed him. "Nate?"

"Hmm?"

"C-can I-I touch you?" She asked her face getting redder.

"Uhh s-sure." He wasn't sure where she was going with this.

She placed he hands on his chest lightly touching him. Nathan wasn't a bodybuilder but he was still fairly fit. Ruby ran her hands on him like a curious child that he thought was cute. When Ruby stopped she was quiet for a few seconds and said "D-do y-you want t-to touch mine?" She was implying her breasts.

Nathan's heart was beating faster leaving him speechless forcing him to just nod. Ruby sat up and pulled off her t-shirt exposing the pale upper half of her body. He reached out and copped one of her breasts which made her give out a small gasp and shiver a little from his cold hand. Nathan could feel her heart beating very rapidly through her breast and then he felt the other one. "D-do you l-like them?" She asked nervously.

"Y-yes, you don't need big boobs for me to like you." He said causing Ruby to kiss him and pull him back down from their sitting position.

"Thanks." Ruby said as she pulled herself close to Nathan, her breasts against him. All this excitement made Nathan's member become quite hard which Ruby felt against her through their clothes. Ruby was a dark shade of red when she asked. "Nate can w-we do….y-you know."

"A-are you sure you want to?" He asked, Nathan wasn't sure if she did and didn't want to force her.

"Yes, I want this….I-I want you." She said looking him in the eyes. "Yang told me it hurts the first time but aura dulls the pain same."

Nathan also knew that he would need to change the sheets tomorrow because there will be blood as well. "A-alright." He said as he removed his boxers making her stare at his manhood.

Ruby then pulled down her pants showing off her black panties she wore underneath which she also slipped out of. Nathan quickly retrieved a condom from his desk and slipped it on.

Returning above Ruby he looked down at her and she nodded. He slowly entered her with Ruby gritting her teeth and as she let out a gasp and started breathing heavily. "Keep going."

Nathan did as she asked and went all the way in. He leaned down to kiss her before he started slowly thrusting trying to be gentle. Ruby was trying to keep the cries of pain and moans down with her hand. Her eyes were watering and within minutes she went rigid having climaxed for the first time. "You ok?" Nathan asked thinking he may have hurt her.

"Yeah, just keep going." She said before kissing him.

Nathan experimented by kissing and nibbling her neck which she didn't tell him to stop, in fact she encouraged it by making small nods and ruffling his hair. Nathan then gripped her hips for a few more thrusts before he released himself inside her, he prayed to Oum that the condom didn't break.

He collapsed on top of her exhausted, Ruby was as well still making little mewls of pain. "Oww my hips hurt."

"Heh, you said….you wanted it." Nathan said through huffs.

"Well yeah….I just didn't think….it'd hurt this much."

"Don't worry, aura will fix that. Then it should just feel good."

"Yeah…..and maybe we can try….other stuff Yang and Blake told me about."

Nathan understood what she was getting at. "Yeah, we can if you want."

"But nothing more tonight and Nate?"

"Yes Rubes?"

"Bring more of those condoms with you when we go to Patch." Ruby said with a mischievous look.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Another chapter for you guys, 11 is done. When/if I finish this story I'm contemplating doing a RWBY/Fallout crossover of something, I don't know. The vacation arc should be covering several chapters before the volume 3 stuff starts. Anyways Rooster Teeth owns everything but my shit.**

Nathan woke up the next day to Ruby pointing her scroll at him. "And saved~. Morning Nate, did you know you look really cute when you're sleeping?"

"Why'd you take a picture of me?" He asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Just nice to have more pictures of ya, besides it's for my eyes only."

Looking down at the sheets Nathan could see the blood stains from last night's activities with some red on himself and Ruby. "We should definitely take a shower and throw the sheets in the laundry."

"I call the shower first!" Ruby said as she rose peddled her way into the bathroom and put the hot water on blast judging by the steam emanating from the bathroom.

Balling up the sheets and blanket he put them in the hamper for later, Nathan would do the laundry himself this time to avoid his mom having evidence they did the deed.

Nathan just had a thought that made him grin and quietly entered the bathroom and slowly approached the shower. He could her Ruby softly humming to herself inside, Nathan peeked in to see that her back was to him so stealthily stepped into the shower then embraced her from behind which made Ruby nearing jump out of her skin. "GAAAAHHH!"

"Hey." Nathan simply stated holding her.

"Nate! Oum you scared me." She said placing a hand to her chest. "Don't do that meanie."

"Heh." Was his answer before he started to nibble on her neck.

"Come on Nate, I'm still sore." Ruby lightly struggled against him.

"Alright, we need to go eat anyway." He said letting her go with Ruby turning around to look at him.

"Ugh, you're a mess." She stated seeing there was still some leftover blood. "The shower is yours, I'm gonna get dressed." Ruby exited the shower and started toweling off while Nathan began scrubbing himself down.

When he left the shower he saw Ruby laying on her stomach playing with her scroll wearing her usual black dress. She turned to look at him which made her face slightly red. "What?"

"N-nothing, just don't get to see naked guys that much." Ruby answered.

"Rubes if I didn't know any better I think you like what you see."

"P-perhaps." Was all she said as Nathan got dressed.

"I think I smell breakfast, maybe mom cooked this morning." He said as he finished dressing in some causal clothes.

Ruby jumped off the bed, "Let's go! I'm starving."

The two went downstairs to see a small spread and strangely there was one more plate than usual, did they know Ruby was there? As they entered the dining room Nathan's mom came in with most of the breakfast foods to place on the plates. "Morning mom, that's a lot, what's the occasion?" He asked as he sat down hoping his mom won't ask any inconvenient questions like why Ruby was there.

"Oh, your father and I are celebrating the loss of your V-card." She said with a smile.

"V-card?" Ruby said confused.

"Virginity." His mother stated. "And congratulations to you as well, the first time is always the hardest."

Ruby became crimson at them being found out. "H-how'd you guys know?" Nathan asked.

"I may be getting older but I still have good hearing." His mother stated. "And the scream we heard this morning confirmed it."

Ruby glared at Nathan. "What?" He said.

"Anyways dig in, I heard you had a bit of a sweet tooth Ruby so I made some chocolate waffles with sides of bacon and some scrambled eggs." His mother said as she sat down to start eating.

Ruby sat down and immediately drowned her waffles in syrup before viciously cutting them into pieces and wolfing them down. Nathan started with the eggs and bacon before moving to the waffles. Then Nathan's father entered. "I see you're giving them a breakfast of champions dear. Right Nate?" He said lightly patting his son's shoulder making him turn red.

"You're a man now Nathan, I'm assuming he was a gentleman Ruby?" His mother asked the red reaper who was growing redder by the second.

"Y-yes, he was nice." Ruby answered in a quiet voice looking away.

"So when can we expect grandchildren?" His father asked.

Nathan quickly gobbled what he could and started dragging Ruby to the door by her hood, a strip of bacon hanging out of her mouth. "Seeyoulaterbye!" He yelled as they ran out the door.

When they got a safe distance from the house he let go of Ruby. "Sorry about that."

"I-it's fine, your parents really like to mess with us huh?"

"You don't know the half of it. You said we're leaving tomorrow right?"

"Yup, we're gonna meet up with Yang at an airship hub in Vale tomorrow morning."

"Speaking of Yang, does she know you're with me?"

"I…may have lied about where I'd be after seeing you yesterday." Ruby said making circles on the ground with the tip of her boot.

"Where did you say you'd be?" He needed to know so him and Ruby can tell the same lie to Yang.

"Staying with Penny, a friend I made recently but I haven't seen her in awhile." She said sadly.

"I don't know if that'll work."

"It's best I got, if I told her the truth I would die!"

"No, I would die. You'd just get yelled at."

"I'll make sure she grants you mercy." She said sticking her tongue out.

"Have anything planned for today?"

"Well I wanted to pick up some clothes so I won't have to wear just my usual dresses most of the time. I be styling but I want something more casual."

Nathan facepalmed at her second sentence. "Clothing store it is."

They went to a nearby mall that had several clothing stores catering to huntsman/huntresses, as the clothes they sell are more durable than regular clothes and resistant to the elements. Plus a student discount is nice. Ruby had Nathan sit next to the changing room while she tried on various clothes she picked out. The first outfit she had on when she came out was a black tanktop with a large red rose on the chest and barely exposed her midriff. She also had on black skinny jeans with a few tears at the knees and thighs. "What do you think?"

"It's definitely you." He said before poking her belly which made her giggle.

"Don't start." She tried to say seriously.

"You mean…this." He said digging his fingers into her stomach until she ran back into the changing room.

"You jerk." She said through the door. Ruby changed into her next outfit. "Ta-da!"

This time she was wearing blue short-shorts with a plaid button-up collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the first top couple and bottom couple buttons left undone allowing her bellybutton to peek out and showing off a hint of cleavage. "Trying on the country style Rubes?"

"The colors aren't really my style but they are comfortable. I think I'll be wearing these in Patch since it'll be warmer."

"It's cute, but you can be cute in anything."

Ruby blushed. "Flatterer." She said before changing again. This time she put on a black hoodie that had wolf ears on the hood along with red eyes above the lip of the hood above her face. The bottom half was a dark red knee-high skirt with black trim on the bottom. "How about this one?"

"Hmm, I like the ears. I think they make you look really adorable."

"Aww." She says before kissing him. "Thanks, I'm gonna change back now."

After she got back in her regular clothes and paid for all her new ones they window shopped for awhile, with Nathan carrying the many clothing bags of course. They then went to the mall's food court and got some large overpriced pizza slices with some drinks. "Wanna check out the arcade here?" Ruby asked as they sat down to eat.

"Yeah, we can play some. I haven't been to this one so I don't know what games they have."

"Maybe they have that mecha game we played at the other arcade." Ruby said smirking.

"Doubt it, it seemed small so they might just have some shooting and racing games."

"They should at least have Dead House then." She said before starting on her pizza.

After they finished their quick lunch they moved to the arcade and sure enough they did have the zombie shooting game but the light gun models with the cabinet were different being some kind of submachine gun instead of pistols. They soon saw why as the game spawned much more zombies than the previous one they played causing them to game over much more quickly. The game was so difficult they didn't have time to mess with each other's score. "Man, was that hardmode or something? Sooooo many zombies!" Ruby stated after they ran out of lives.

"Maybe they chose a harder version of the game to free up the machine more quickly for other people to use?" Nathan suggested.

"Maybe, or just to get people to pay more often to keep playing."

Finishing that they played some solo retro games like Grimm Attack and Alley Brawler before leaving to go walk through the park on the way back to the shop. It was the beginning of night with the street lamps turning on and people going home, the park was near deserted. The two were holding hands as they walked which made Nathan's job of carrying the bags difficult but Ruby decided to carry half in her free hand.

"When we get back I need to pack all my crap for the trip. Should I bring any weapons?"

"Even if I said no you'd bring them anyway. But there is still some Grimm in Patch so yes. I wanted to do some training and hunting too. And my dad will probably try to fight you, you know the whole 'are you worthy to date my daughter' thing dad's do." Ruby adopted a male sounding voice for the daughter part.

"Your dad a huntsman too?"

"He is, graduated from Beacon and teaches at Signal, that's the school I went to before Beacon."

"What does he fight with?"

"I've only seen him use hand-to-hand, he mostly trained Yang while my Uncle Qrow trained me how to use a scythe."

"So keep my distance, got it. Hopefully my grenades won't overload his aura and kill him."

"Probably won't, he can out-tank Yang so he's pretty tough." Ruby said with pride.

"We'll see."

"Oh and while you're packing." Ruby says getting close and kissing him. "Don't forget the….you know."

"But your dad and sister are there! Two people who would kill me at any excuse."

"Patch is a big place, we'll find somewhere."

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	11. Chapter 11

**And here's 11, 12 is pretty much done. I will "try" to be more detailed in my delivery, my excuse being I'm more of a blunt and to the point person so that carries into my writing I guess. I like detail most of time until it seems like its dragging or exists purely to bump the word count, like stories where 2-3 paragraphs are dedicated to describing a character's shoes. As for the lemons I like to be at least realistic(somewhat), most stories seem to be written by people whose baseline for sex is hentai lol. Anyway, RoosterTeeth owns everything but the OCs.**

Walking up the dirt road to Ruby and Yang's house Nathan had on his old olive drab Vale army rucksack stuffed with clothes and a couple weapons though his pulse rifle hung from a sling on his shoulder. Yang was pushing her yellow motorcycle Bumblebee by the handlebars. Ruby was chasing Zwei in circles around the previously mentioned two. It was late afternoon with the sun on its way to the horizon, the trip took most of the day to get to Patch due to delays. The airship transporting them just came out of some bad weather in Atlas but they made it.

As they approached Nathan could spot a blond man in the distance but before he could say anything Ruby sped off to tackle the man in a hug. Yang and Nathan just kept their normal walking pace until they were close with Yang giving the man a hug when Ruby got off him. "This is my dad!" The reaper said.

"Is this the Nathan I heard about? I figured he'd be a huntsman or something." Her father said looking him up and down.

Nathan held out his hand. "No huntsman, Nathan Carter of Carter Armaments."

The man took it. "Taiyang Xiao Long, you own a weapons manufacturer?"

"Heh, I wish. No, I just work for my father in a small weapons shop in Vale."

"That explains how you came to know Ruby, she's always been a gun nut." Tai said ruffling Ruby's hair.

"You make it sound like a bad thing." Ruby said with a pout.

"Well let's get you guys settled in. Yang, the sheds unlocked so you can put your bike in there." Tai said as he pointed in the direction of the shed.

"Got it, I'll see you guys inside." Yang said pushing the bike towards the shed.

Tai showed Nathan the inside of the house briefly before they put their bags down in Ruby and Yang's bedroom upstairs. Nathan already picked out a spot on the floor, hopefully Zwei doesn't take it. The dinner was already on the stove which Tai went back to the kitchen to attend to when Yang came into the house and dropped off her stuff. "Never stayed this far from civilization before." Nathan said mostly to Ruby.

"The Grimm have mostly stayed away from the house but still watch yourself at night." Tai said from the kitchen.

"Any in the area though? I want to get some training in before the Vytal Festival." Ruby said.

"Me too, and I want to see Nathan's moves." Yang said coming down the stairs into the living room.

"I thought you said you weren't a huntsman?" Tai questioned.

"I'm not but I was trained some by my mom. I trained with Ruby a bit, I usually don't win but I can surprise her sometimes." Nathan answered.

"Hmm, well dinners done." Tai said prompting the other three to come into the kitchen to scoop spaghetti from the pot onto their plates.

They dug in especially the arrivals as they didn't have lunch on the flight, they had multiple plates each. Ruby and Yang both had sauce all around their mouths and on their cheeks. Nathan wanted to clean Ruby the same way she cleaned chocolate off his face but he also didn't want to die either. "You guys have sauce all over you." Tai said about the mess.

The two wiped themselves down after they finished eating. Afterwards the three took turns using the showers while everyone sat in the living room watching the TV. Nathan and Ruby planned to go visit the beach since it'll be the warmest day according to the weather predictions. Tai and Yang planned to have some father/daughter time in the nearby town. When it got late everyone decided it was time for bed and went upstairs. Getting set up in the bedroom Nathan removed his shirt as everyone already changed into their sleeping clothes after showers, this elicited a response from Yang. "So that's what you're getting sis?" She said ogling Nathan.

"Don't even think about it." Ruby said with a pout as she pulled Nathan close to her. "Mine."

"So cute~. Be careful or I'll put the shotgun in shotgun wedding." Yang said, with the statement directed more at Nathan than Ruby.

"Wait, you know? Did Ruby tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Yang said in a somewhat sinister tone.

"It's nothing, Nate is just tired. Let's get some sleep." Ruby said releasing Nathan and jumping in her bed.

"Surrrrrre." Was all that Yang said before getting her bed.

Nathan laid out his sleeping bag with a small pillow and a light blanket. Ruby scooted up to the edge of the bed and puckered her lips with her eyes closed expectantly. Nathan moved and kissed her. "Night Nate."

"Night Rubes, see you in the morning." He replied before laying down to sleep.

The next morning they had breakfast before going their separate ways with Zwei staying behind to watch the house. Nathan and Ruby walked through the woods to the beach with Nathan carrying the umbrella and cooler for the drinks. Ruby had the towels and some snacks.

Getting to the beach Ruby laid out the towels and Nathan set up the beach umbrella over them. The sand was a light brown with some rock formations on the edges of the beach. There wasn't anyone else on the shoreline besides them. Nathan took off his shirt and shorts he wore over his swim shorts while Ruby stripped out of the plaid shirt and short-shorts she bought a couple days ago. Nathan's swim shorts were light blue with a black vertical stripe down the sides. Ruby was wearing a black bikini swim suit with a red rose on the right breast. "Yang's choice?" Nathan asked, he expected to see her in a one-piece or something similar.

"No, I bought this at the mall when you weren't paying attention. You like it?"

"Y-yeah, you look sexy." He said blushing.

"T-thank you Nate."

"Now, it's time to get wet." He said picking Ruby up and throwing her over his shoulder and carried her over to the ocean. Nathan then dropped them both into the cool water.

"Hahaha Nate!" She said before swimming out of his grasp and stood up in the waist deep water. "We need to put on sunscreen first, I don't tan I burn!"

"Oh, sorry." He said as they walked out of the surf and Ruby fished out the sunscreen.

"Want to put it on for me?" She said holding out the bottle.

"Yeah, I can do that." He said with a grin. Nathan started applying it on her arms and shoulders with a light amount on her face and ears. He then moved to her back and stomach before starting on her legs, Ruby squirmed a little when he moved to her inner thighs.

"Alright my tur-I mean you're turn." Ruby said when he was finished. She mimicked his earlier application of the sunscreen, though she spent a long time on his chest with a look of hunger starting on her face. This combined with the touching made him pitch a tent in his swim shorts which Ruby noticed when she moved down to do his legs. "N-nate, you have a b-boner."

"I-it happens." He said looking down at her.

Ruby's face was getting red. "Do you wanna….." She made a hand gesture towards her mouth.

Nathan looked around to see if he could spot anyone, especially Tai or Yang. "G-go ahead."

Ruby gripped around the edges of his shorts to expose his hard member. She looked at it before looking back up at Nathan for him to make a small nod. Grasping his dick which was very hot to the touch Ruby lightly licked it a few times before placing the head in her mouth. The action made him gasp and feel tingly, Ruby tentatively tried to fit more of him in her mouth but it caused her to gag so she stopped around halfway and started moving her head back and forth. Nathan had to fight the urge to grip Ruby's head and force himself further in.

Ruby kept this pace up for several minutes occasionally looking up at him which brought him to the edge. "I-I'm about to…" He said before he shot his load into her mouth which made her cough because the warning didn't come in time.

"Ugh! Nate, that tasted nasty!" Ruby said wiping the slobber and leftover cum she hadn't swallowed with the back of her arm.

"Sorry, I heard pineapple makes it taste less bitter and I think there's something out there that makes it taste like chocolate." Nathan said as he pulled up the shorts.

"Chocolate you say." Ruby said with a mischievous grin.

"W-well, do you want me to return the favor?" He asked.

Ruby turned very red. "Yeah, I-I'd like that."

She moved to the towel under the umbrella and laid down. Nathan got down between her legs and slipped her out of bikini bottoms. When he touched her private parts she was already very hot and wet with Ruby letting out a small moan with the touch. He softly inserted his index finger into her which made her constrict it with her insides. He moved it back and forth in her before moving down and began to lick her. This generated more moans from her as she tightly gripped the towel under them. Nathan began sticking his tongue into her wet passage which set her off seconds later as a liquid came out of her and she became rigid and looking up into the sky while making a loud moan of pleasure.

Nathan used the edge of the towel to wipe off the Ruby juice on his face. He held up her bikini bottoms to her but she waved him off. "Just…let me sit for a bit." She said sounding exhausted still looking up at the clouds.

A few minutes later Ruby slipped back into the bottom half of her swimwear and the two went swimming for awhile with games of splashing or chasing each other. When it started to get into the afternoon and both their skins were starting to prune the two toweled off, broke down the umbrella and walked back to the house. "I had fun today Nate." She said happily walking close to him.

"Good to hear, I had fun today too. We can't say we had a boring day." Nathan answered lightly jabbing Ruby's ribs with his elbow.

"Yeah, when we get back I think I'm going to look up that chocolate stuff you mentioned." Ruby said smiling.

Nathan blushed. "You want to do that more?"

"Of course, I like seeing you squirm a little when I do it. And soon you'll be my candy man." Ruby said with an innocent smile.

"Hmm, makes me think of the noises someone else made when she was at my mercy." Nathan said smirking at her which made Ruby become crimson.

"S-shut up Nate."

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter 12, 13 is mostly done, I ran into a case of writer's block for a bit otherwise this would've been out several days ago. RoosterTeeth owns all but my stuff.**

It was the next day and Nathan was busy trying to block Yang's punches using the body of his pulse rifle. Her punches were getting faster and more difficult to block with some getting through. He tried to bring his rifle up to fire a burst but Yang sidestepped and shoved his barrel aside and socked him in the face dropping him on the ground in a cloud of dust. "I win again!" Yang said in triumph flexing her arms.

Nathan needed work on his close combat and relied too much on trying his best to keep his distance. "Owww." Nathan was opening and closing his hands to relieve the pain from blocking Yang's punches with his rifle.

"She really kicked your butt huh?" Ruby said who was watching the spar from the side along with Zwei who barked.

The three were training at a clearing near the house, Yang and Nathan's fight was first with the winner fighting Ruby. Nathan was somewhat relieved to not be fighting Ruby though he is used to her fighting style compared to Yang's.

"That was a decent warm-up but it's your turn Rubes." Said Yang cracking her knuckles.

Deploying Crimson Rose into its scythe form Ruby jumped in front of Yang. "Bring it!"

Nathan sat on the sidelines with Zwei to watch the two girls fight.

They squared off for a moment seeing who would make the first move until Ruby shot forward using the recoil of her rifle before swinging her scythe horizontally at Yang. Seeing this Yang ducked under her swing and fired a shotgun round from Ember Celica into Ruby but she quickly recovered using her semblance to evade her shots. Ruby appeared on the opposite side of the field and sunk the blade of Crescent Rose into the soil and sighted down her rifle. Yang realized her sister was trying to use her distance advantage with the sniper rifle and pelt her aura down from afar.

Yang started zipping closer, dodging what shots she can and eating others but still kept moving towards Ruby. The reaper withdrew her blade from the ground and counter-charged Yang striking out with her blade. The scythe connected skimming Yang's upper arm but she was able to land a series of quick shotgun punches with Ember Celica to Ruby's chest and stomach bringing her aura into the yellow.

"I win again! Nice try sis." Yang says helping Ruby off the ground.

"I don't think anyone can beat you with your semblance." Ruby said as she dusted herself off.

"You up for another round Nate or are you going to 'train' with Ruby?" Yang used air quotes when she said 'train' making him blush.

"I wanna fight someone I can beat!" Ruby said grabbing Nathan by the arm.

"Gee thanks Ruby." Nathan said sarcastically.

"You're welcome." Ruby answered back with a smile. Nathan was unsure if she realized he was being sarcastic or not.

"Well I'm going to go take a shower, have fun." Yang said with a wave as she started walking back to the house with Zwei.

"Someone you can beat huh?"

"Yup, and fighting you is more fun for me anyway." Ruby said readying her scythe.

"You want to go at it already? Doesn't your aura need to recover?" Nathan asked.

"I'm in the green now. Ready?"

"Uhh, yeah sure." Nathan said hefting his rifle.

Ruby dashed about twenty meters away from Nathan and got into a combat stance. "You can attack first."

Nathan leveled his pulse rifle from the hip and fired a fire dust grenade at Ruby who jumped straight up to avoid the incendiary explosives that torched the dirt below her. Quickly shouldering his rifle and aiming upwards he fired bursts of bullets trying to land a hit on the red reaper before she could bring the scythe down on him. He attempted to thump Ruby in the face with the muzzle of his rifle when she got but Ruby barely avoided the unexpected melee to make a diagonal slash across Nathan's chest followed by striking him in the right thigh with the bottom end of her scythe staff before shooting away.

The pulse rifle barked a long burst with Nathan dumping a copious number of bullets at Ruby. He fired so much he forgot to pay attention to his ammo counter until the rifle clicked empty. "Fuck!"

Dropping the empty magazine Nathan fumbled to insert a fresh one with Ruby speeding towards him with her scythe at the ready, a grin on her face. He just got the mag in and racked the bolt when she bopped him in the sternum with her weapon before firing a point-blank shot putting his aura into the orange.

"Whew, you're getting better Nate! Didn't think you would actually try to hit me there." Ruby said at his attempt at melee.

"It was just something I did on reflex, might be from some of the bayonet training I did when my mom and me found out I'm not all that hot at using melee weapons."

"That why you don't really make shifting weapons and instead use omni or combo weapons like your pulse rifle?" She said pointing at his rifle.

"Pretty much and also why I favor ranged weapons even if they put me at a disadvantage at close range."

"You mean like this?" Ruby says before hugging him.

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted a hug is all." Ruby said before letting him go. "Ready to head back and get cleaned up?"

"Yeah, have to clean my rifle first though. The bad thing about most of my weapons is they get very dirty pretty quickly." Nathan said holding up the pulse rifle.

"No point in taking a shower just to get covered in grime again. I guess I'll clean my baby with you."

The two traversed back to the cabin and retrieved their respective cleaning kits and began the process of breaking down and cleaning their weapons outside on the porch with Zwei running around the yard.

Their hands were blackened from the mixer of carbon fouling and gun oil, Nathan especially since he fired far more rounds than Ruby did. "Oum Nate! Your hands are all black!"

"Yeah they are." He said examining his hands before making a handprint on Ruby's left cheek.

"Hey! You're getting it on me!" Ruby said trying to push his arm away.

"I know." He replied before leaving black spots on her other cheek, forehead and nose.

"Ok, just for that you don't get to join me in the shower." Ruby said with a pout and looking away with her arms crossed.

"Wait what?"

Ruby quickly reassembled Crescent Rose and gathered her cleaning supplies and went inside. Nathan scrambling to do the same. He came inside and heard Yang. "How'd you get soot on your face?"

"From Nate, he rubbed it on me." Nathan got the feeling he might want to leave as soon as he entered the room the sisters were in.

"Nate…" Yang lightly growled. Ruby was standing behind her smiling.

"Yes…"

Yang punched him in the stomach. "Don't do that again."

"O..ok." Nathan uttered holding his belly.

"Good, see ya later Rubes." Yang said smiling at her sister before leaving.

"Why?" Nathan asked Ruby.

"Because you smeared gunk on my face you meanie."

"But did you have to get Yang to hit me?"

"Well no, she did that on her own." Ruby turned a shade of red under the soot on her face. "So you coming?" Ruby said walking up the stairs.

"To the shower?" He asked quietly following behind her.

"Yeah silly, we have to get cleaned up after all." She answered looking back at him.

The two entered the bathroom seeing that the mirror was still steamed from when Yang was using the shower.

"I hope she didn't use all the hot water." Ruby said as she turned on the water so it can warm up.

Ruby bent down and loosened the laces on her boots and removed them while Nathan watched her until she noticed the stare. "Start stripping you perv." She said jokingly.

He took off his boots as well along with the socks and his camo jacket and shirt. Ruby undid her corset and unzipped her top and removed them. Ruby turned away from him and slipped out of her black combat skirt and leggings, he moved behind her and hugged her from behind when she stood back up. "Hey."

"Hey Nate, get undressed. We can't be in here too long, they'll get suspicious when they don't see either one of us for awhile."

Nathan answered her by nibbling on her neck, turning the bitten sections of skin red.

"Nate stop….you'll leave marks." She protested but didn't make an effort to escape his hold.

He didn't care and kept at it. If Yang or Tai saw the bite marks well…he'll cross that bridge when he gets there. The shower water started to get hot as it started to steam up the small room. "S-showers ready."

"Uh-huh." Nathan mumbled before lightly biting her earlobe and groping her breasts through the red bra and one hand reaching down her body towards Ruby's red panties. He slipped inside and lightly rubbed her womanhood which made Ruby's whole body twitch before he pulled back out again and let her go. "Ready to shower."

"W-wait, you're stopping?" Ruby said disappointed.

"You said we should hurry after all." Nathan said as he pulled down his camo pants and boxers with Ruby staring at his now stiff member.

"W-well yeah its just…you were just teasing me weren't you?" Ruby said with a pout.

"Perhaps. Come on, it's clean up time. Remember your face is dirty." Nathan said stepping into the shower.

Ruby finished stripping and joined him in the shower. "You're so mean Nate."

"Well I w-wanted you after our spar but by the time I was in your p-panties I realized the rubbers are in the bedroom."

"O-oh, well you're still mean for teasing me."

"Yeah yeah, clean your face." He said swapping with her under the shower head so she can get wet and clean the soot off her face. "Besides, you know you loved it."

"And Yang and dad are gonna love seeing the marks you left on me." She said with a smirk as she lathed soap into her hair.

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that." He said scrubbing himself down.

"Don't worry." Ruby said then kissed him before moving to his neck to lick a spot before lightly biting him leaving a red spot. "There, a little bite from your cookie monster." She said tilting her head to the side with an innocent smile.

Nathan had worries that the mark on his neck would only make things worse.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 is here, 14 is mostly done. Pushing close to 200 followers, I really can't believe so many of you guys follow this crap…..for whatever reason but thank you.**

Well the neck marks got Nathan in trouble. He got treated like a figurative and briefly literal racket ball by Tai and Yang. When they saw the marks on his neck Ruby started to get scolded until she made the puppy eyes so she got off easy.

It was several days later that Ruby, Yang and Nathan went hunting for some Grimm in the forest around the cabin. What sparked them to go hunting was when Zwei found some beowolf tracks along the edge of the property. Worried they might come back during the night the group went off to get them first.

The three were moving through the forest with Yang and Ruby in the front and Nathan following behind them. They followed the tracks until they disappeared into the grass and leaves of the forest, no other signs of the Grimm creatures after that except for a few scratches marks left on trees probably marking their territory or working on their claws.

Yang and Ruby seemed to get more apprehensive the further they went into the forest, especially Yang who was quickly looking around with a worried look on her face.

"You alright Yang." Nathan asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I-we've been here before, Ruby and me. We came this way looking for mom." Yang answered grimly.

"What happened?"

"Grimm attacked….but Uncle Qrow saved us, we were just kids then." Said Yang.

The silence amongst them returned with the exception of the dry leaves crushed under their boots. The forest seemed to become darker and the best word to describe it would be "deader" with all the dried-out vegetation from the Grimm habituating the area. The grass was brown or just replaced with dirt and the trees and bushes have lost all their green and leaves.

As the three got further they became aware that they were surrounded, seeing shadows moving at a distance around them. The Grimm were watching for an opening to exploit or an advantage in terrain. Nathan kept his rifle up pointed in the direction of the forest he saw some beowolves moving behind trees to break line of sight with them. "What are they waiting on?" He said.

"I think thei-" Ruby was cut off by a loud wolf howl in the distance followed by the noise of brush all around them being crushed through by the pack of beowolves that encircled them.

"Play time!" Yang yelled out before blasting forward to pummel a beowolf apart.

Ruby got to swinging, splitting Grimm vertically and diagonally. She zipped from target to target and started to take out beowolves that Yang would've gotten. "Hey, stop stealing my kills!"

"Didn't know we were keeping count, but I'll win anyway!" Ruby answered before bisecting another beowolf.

Yang started fighting more aggressively to try to keep up with Ruby. Nathan was picking off beowolves at a distance by lobbing fire dust grenades into the brush with the underbarrel grenade launcher, starting some small fires in the forest but he wasn't too concerned about that at the moment. Switching to using the rifle portion he gunned down several beowolves that ventured too close to him, their bodies evaporating mere paces from his position.

He was just starting to swap magazines when another beowolf emerged from the bush next to him. Allowing the pulse rifle to hang from his sling Nathan unholstered his Great War Mantle Empire pistol(Luger P08) and fired several ice rounds into the Grimm causing it's bone mask to shatter puncturing the brain, killing it.

With that handled, he reloaded his rifle and continued hosing any Grimm that weren't being dealt with by the two sisters in their wild melee. The number of beowolves were starting to pitter down when they heard another load howl but much closer with a large tree falling nearby. "What is that?" He muttered.

Out of the woods came a very large alpha beowolf with all of its extra bone armor. It immediately settled on going after Yang sensing she was the most dangerous of the three. It lunged after her rapidly swinging its long claws. Ruby used the opportunity to slash at the alpha's back tearing up its bone armor but still not stopping it.

Yang took in several swipes across her chest and back but she absorbed the damage and gave it back using her semblance. Her punches cracked the alpha's chest armor making it give up on trying to kill the blond. The Grimm then went after the easiest target: Nathan.

The alpha charged after him as Nathan leveled his pulse rifle and held the trigger down holing the alpha beowolf like cheese. The Grimm creature finally died as it made a defiant swipe knocking Nathan to the ground but the slash attack was nullified by his aura.

"Nate! You alright!" Ruby said running up to him.

He checked his chest to see he was unharmed. "Never better." He said giving a thumbs up.

"You dummy, you're supposed to dodge remember?" Ruby said helping him up.

"Thanks." He kicked the dissolving carcass of the alpha. "But, we got 'im."

"Hell yeah we did, and you bagged an alpha!" Yang cheered punching him in the shoulder.

"It was you two that did all the work, I just finished an already dying Grimm." He said sheepishly.

"Well I think that takes care of the Grimm problem around here for awhile, let's head back and eat." Said Ruby walking back towards the cabin.

On the walk back it was mostly Ruby and Yang bragging on who got the most kills, Ruby even tried to say Nathan got more kills than Yang but the blond sister was having none of that. Getting closer to the house they could smell food cooking along with a hint of one of Ruby's favorite foods. "Cookies!" She rocketed off in a stream of rose petals into the cabin.

"And there she goes, you think she'll eat them all?"

"Nah, dad won't let her. Not before dinner even if she pulls the face." Answered Yang.

They entered the house to see Tai shooing Ruby out of the kitchen so he can finish cooking dinner. "You'll get your cookies after dinner Rubes." Tai said.

"Awwww, but I wants." Ruby sighed.

Nathan grabbed Ruby's hood and started pulling her to the living room. "Come on Ruby, leave your dad alone."

"But…my delicious treats…"

"You'll get them later." Said Yang.

The three spent the afternoon cleaning their gear and weapons though this time Nathan didn't cake Ruby's face in unburnt gunpowder. None of their gear was damaged but Nathan had to realign Yang's right shotgun gauntlet barrel. Apparently a strike to some Grimm bone armor pushed the barrel into a slightly down position making Ember Celica unable to collapse into passive mode completely. A couple whacks with a rubber mallet fixed the problem, Nathan would've preferred to just replace the barrel but that would have to wait until they get back to Vale and if Yang wants the work done.

Showers were in order after the Grimm hunt, blazing a trail through the forest and fighting beowolves left them filthy from sweat and dirt. Yang got the shower first again, followed by Ruby and then Nathan. Ruby took all the remaining hot water, Nathan guessed it was pay back for the teasing he gave her when they took that shower together.

After they had dinner Ruby got her promised cookies that she eagerly gobbled up much to Tai's amusement. She had so many that Yang and Nathan only got a handful that Ruby wasn't able to snatch from their hands.

Dinner out of the way the three excused themselves to go to bed, tired from the day's adventure. "What you two doing tomorrow?" Yang asked, she was going to be with Tai again.

"Well since it's our last day off I was just going to hang out with Nate, maybe do some light training." Ruby answered crawling under the covers.

"Cool, just don't have too much fun~." Yang said with a wink before turning over with her back to them.

Nathan laid down in his blanket bed to get some sleep but Ruby wouldn't let him. "Nate." She whispered.

"Yeah."

"I wanna cuddle." She said looking down at him.

"But…" He whispered looking in Yang's direction.

"She's asleep already and we'll be up before her in the morning."

He sighed, "Ok, but if we get in trouble I'm blaming you."

"Yay!" She cheered quietly before moving over so Nathan can get in bed with her.

As soon as he crawled in Ruby clamped onto him, throwing a leg over him. "You're trapped."

"Oh no." He said quietly in mock alarm before kissing her.

"What kind of training you had in mind?" Nathan asked.

"It'll be a surprise." She said with a smile.

"What kind?

Ruby turned a little red. "T-that's for you to find out."

"I hope it's not too intense, you have the tournament coming up."

"Yeah…i-intense." Ruby said looking at Nathan's chest.

"Ruby?"

"N-nothing!" She said into his chest.

"O-ok." He said holding her close and kissing the top of her head.

"Hey Nate, y-you think I should t-take my shirt off?" She asked looking up at him.

"I-I'd love it, but what if Yang sees?"

"I'll just tell her I did it in my sleep again." She said pulling off her tank-top exposing her breasts.

"Again?"

"Yeah, in my sleep I sometimes take my shirt or pants off if I get hot." Ruby pressed her warm body against him and kissed his lips.

Ruby felt Nathan getting hard down there causing her to blush. "W-we should get some sleep….d-don't want to get carried away."

"Y-yeah, nights Rubes." He whispered giving her a long kiss.

"Night." Ruby settled into his arms sighing contentedly before dozing off.

Nathan stayed awake a little longer playing with Ruby's hair wondering what they were going to be doing tomorrow, especially Ruby's "surprise".

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	14. Chapter 14

**About time this is getting posted, sorry for the delay. I was getting distracted by a mix of Fallout: NV and my girlfriend who is on vacation for spring break so less time to write next chapter but its mostly done now FINALLY! RoosterTeeth owns everything but my OCs.**

Ruby and Nathan were strolling through the forest around the house with Ruby showing him all the places her and Yang use to hang out or play. "We made a tree fort there." She said pointing at a tree that still had rotting boards nailed to its trunk.

"It finally collapsed a year ago during a storm, it was already a little too dangerous to climb in but we still did, creaky boards and all."

"When did you guys make it?" Nathan asked touching one of the climbing boards.

"I….think I was ten at the time." Ruby stated having to ponder on how long ago it was. "Though I used it more than Yang when she started to get older, I mostly played with some of my friends from Signal when she wouldn't."

The two then moved to a nearby stream and crossed a log bridge made by a fallen try. "Me and Yang sometimes played in there." She pointed to the stream and muddy shore. "Dad would get so mad when we would bring mud into the house, worse when we had Zwei with us."

"Was he as bouncy as he is now?"

"Yup! He'd get paw prints all over the walls and the ceiling." She said smiling at the memories.

"The ceiling?"

"He was very fast." She said with a shrug.

"So where you leading me?" He asks pushing aside a small branch crossing their path.

"I want you to meet someone." She replied.

"Who, a friend?"

"No, family." Ruby simply answered.

Going further down the dirt path they started to hear the sounds of waves crashing against rocks and wind gusts. Coming out of the woodline to a small open field leading to a cliffedge there was a stone slab slightly raised out of the ground near the dropoff.

"What's that?" He asked as they walked up to it.

"Nate, allow me to introduce you to my mom." Ruby said looking at the slab.

"Ruby…..you…I'm sorry."

"I was going to tell you eventually, you don't have to say sorry for not knowing."

"But still, how'd it happen?" He asked taking her hand in his.

"She went on a mission and didn't come back, I was a little too young at the time to fully understand it." Ruby said sadly. "Losing her kinda broke something in dad leaving Yang to become woman of the house."

Nathan hugged Ruby from behind and kissed the back of her head. "I-it must've been hard on you all."

"Yeah, I think dad was hit the hardest. Yang said he was much more cheerful when we had mom but now…" Ruby trailed off.

Nathan squeezed her tightly with Ruby placing a hand on one of his forearms. "Wish I could've met her."

"From the pictures and what Yang and dad told me she looks kinda like me but she wore a white cloak instead of red like mine. Can you let me go? I want to talk to my mom for a bit."

Nathan released her and walked back to the edge of the woods to lean with his back against a tree to wait. He saw Ruby kneel down and talked quietly for awhile, he was unable to hear any of Ruby's one-sided conversation with her mother. He wondered if maybe her mom was still alive out there somewhere but he doubted it since she has been missing for years.

When Ruby was done she stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes and walked back to Nathan with a small smile. "I'm done, ready to train?"

"Huh? W-well yeah I guess. I just didn't think you'd want to after…"

"No its fine, I want something to clear my mind anyway. Lets go!" Ruby said grabbing his hand and leading him down the dirt trail.

She took them to an area with lots of waist high grass and brush sporadically filled with trees. There was starting to be some overcast in the skies but didn't appear to be threatening rain anytime soon. A light breeze pushed the tall grass slightly when Ruby let him go.

"Alright! Remember when I said this would be special training?" She asked placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah but also being less intense than normal." He answered air-quoting 'intense'.

"Yup! We'll be playing hide and seek…sort of. We'll be searching for each other instead of one of us just hiding. Also you have to tag them!"

"Ok, but you can't use your semblance."

"Aww, but then you can catch me." She pouted.

"Well yeah…that's the idea isn't it?"

"Ugh fine, no semblances." She said crossing her arms.

"Any other rules?"

"Nope! You start walking that way." She pointed. "I'll text you when to start."

"Alright Rubes, see you in a bit." He said walking away.

Nathan walked for around 5 minutes through brush and crossed a small ravine before he got a text.

"Go 😉"

He smirked and started back at and angle from where he came. He tried to keep a low profile by huddling down as he walked while also trying to observe the grass for signs of movement but the constant wind made that task difficult. Nathan thought he might've heard some of the brush rustling in the distance and grew a grin when he got an idea. Pulling out his scroll he placed a call to Ruby's scroll hoping she had her ringer on. A loud blaring tone could be heard around twenty meters away followed by "Stupid scroll! Nate!"

"Found you." He muttered smiling closing in on her position. But when he got near where he believed Ruby was she flew out of some tall grass in a flurry of rose petals tackling him with the reaper straddling him.

"Gotcha! I win!" Ruby cheered.

"You cheated, you used your semblance."

"Yeah but you cheated first by calling my scroll so neh!" Ruby retorted sticking her tongue out at him.

"You didn't say we couldn't do that." Nathan said.

"Quiet you!" Ruby said before kissing him. "Remember when you teased me? It got me a little…h-hot."

"Hot?" Nathan blushed because he thinks he knows what she is talking about.

"Y-yeah, if Yang wasn't in the room the other night…" Ruby was red.

"Ruby are yo-" She placed a finger over his mouth.

"As p-punishment for teasing me I get to set the pace this time."

"Y-you're cute w-when you try to be naughty." He said smirking.

"Shutup." She said before kissing and starting to rub herself against him.

"B-but I didn't bring any rubbers with me."

"A huntress always comes prepared!" She said pulling a condom out of her pocket.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Found it." She said simply.

"Found it?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Yang…it was with her hygiene stuff in the bathroom."

"Oh, well you did say she has been out with guys."

"Yeah, anyways…." She said as she started undoing Nathan's pants.

Ruby fumbled a bit being still nervous about sexual things but she managed. Pulling out his member she gave it a light squeeze before ripping the foil wrapper for the condom open with her teeth. Nathan thought she looked kind of cute when she did that. He helped her unroll the rubber onto his erection, the condom had a strange orange scent to it, perhaps Yang likes scented condoms?

"G-good thing I wore my crappy leggings today." She said before making a small tear revealing her black panties underneath. Ruby slid aside her underwear to expose her folds and grabbed Nathan's dick to guide him into her. She inserted him slowly before fully impaling herself on him with a gasp. She gripped Nathan's shoulders and kissed him before she started to move her hips up and down.

"T-this…hurts much…less than last time." She said at the feeling of pleasure going through her body instead of pain.

Nathan couldn't quite say the same as a small stick was stabbing him his lower back but didn't want to stop Ruby especially since she was enjoying herself. He ran his hands up her body groping her breasts through her clothes causing Ruby to giggle slightly when his hands passed her belly but was too busy riding Nathan.

She was going all the way down now with increasing speed letting out small moans with each push. Ruby gripped Nathan very roughly as she orgasmed, squeezing his member inside her. She fell forward already exhausted onto Nathan's chest. He held and kissed her softly. "I think it's my turn Rubes."

"Huh? Wha? Y-you didn't cum?" She asked tired.

"Not yet, want to try something?" He said eyeing a tree.

"What?"

"Stand up."

She got off of Nathan and he stood up, still erect dick hanging out of his pants. He led her to the tree he was looking at. "Want to try from behind?"

"O-ok." Ruby said placing her hands on the tree with her back to him.

Nathan pushed up Ruby's skirt and pressed his penis into her going all in making her have a tighter grip on the tree. He placed his hands on her hips and began to thrust into her, feelings of pleasure coursed through Ruby once again with each thrust of Nathan. "N-nate…"

He thought she came again as her knees moved closer together briefly and her body becoming temporary rigid with a few spasms but she recovered quickly. He was getting close until Ruby started pushing herself against his thrusts making him splatter the inside of the prophylactic.

Nathan held onto Ruby for a minute before pulling out of her and disposing of the rubber while she fixed her panties. "That was….much better than the first time!" Ruby said blissfully.

"Yeah, it was good knowing I wasn't hurting you."

"Y-you're so sweet." She said wrapping Nathan in an embrace and kissing him. "I l-love you."

Ruby's statement took Nathan off guard, sure it was implied they love each other but the two never put it into words. "I...I love you too Ruby." He replied blushing.

She kissed him again. "Let's head back, I'm starving."

"We might need to shower before we see Yang and your dad, we smell like..you know."

"Yeah we should, I call first…unless you want to join me." She said with a mischievous smile.

"M-maybe I should." He said smirking.

"And maybe I should start asking Yang or Blake for advice on…naughty things." Ruby said with a crimson face.

"Asking Yang is a very bad idea."

"Hmm, maybe Nora? She's aaawwwfully close to Ren." Ruby said mostly to herself in thought.

"Ruby…" He sighed.

"Or maybe I can start watching some of those naughty videos Yang has on her laptop, I'm sure she won't mind if she doesn't know." Ruby said smiling.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow! 200 subs! Yay me I guess. Still working on Chapter 16 so it might be awhile until the next one, in bit of a slump right now, maybe I'll watch through the early seasons again or something? Anyway, everything belongs to Roosterteeth except my OCs.**

The next day Tai dropped them off at the airship port early in the morning since Ruby's team had a match later in the day so needed to get back to Vale. It was still dark when their flight left with Ruby and Yang snoozing in the seats next to Nathan as he leaned against the window dozing off every couple minutes. He let his parents know he'll be back in Vale soon, his dad told him he has lots of work piled up for Nathan to do when he gets home so won't be able to watch the Vytal tournament in person. Ruby won't be happy to hear that but he can still watch on TV while working.

When they got to Vale the three parted ways with Ruby and Yang heading to Beacon to prepare for their matches. Ruby predictively was upset Nathan couldn't come to Amity Arena to watch RWBY's first match but Nathan promised he'll watch them at home.

Nathan walked into the shop to see his dad was already watching the tournament. "Hey, how much do I have to do?"

"Oh, about ten weapons, all need repairs and one needs all the electronics swapped out." His father answered. "Have fun in Patch?" His father asked waggling his eye brows and grinning.

"Yeah, got to meet her dad, he seemed alright. We also killed an alpha beowolf."

"We? You gonna be a huntsman now?" He said jokingly.

"Nah but the experience is always good." He said walking into the workshop.

Soon Nathan had the TV running and he was replacing the metal tip of a spear. The blade had snapped off at some point so he forged a replacement and installed it. After that he refinished the alloy staff of the spear as it was wearing thin in areas where it was more frequently gripped.

He was just finishing when a mustached man on the television announced the next match was between Team RWBY from Beacon and Team ABRN from Haven. Nathan grabbed a bag of potato chips and a drink for the show.

The match went about as well as Nathan expected, there was a few close calls but RWBY pulled off a win without losing any of their team in the fight. He texted Ruby a congratulations for the win and walked out front to see his dad was watching the TV in the store.

"Your girl's team is pretty good, though ABRN did put up a good fight." His father said.

"I know Ruby and Yang are pretty good since I fought them both."

"They're only good to you because you're not a huntsman." His father said grinning.

"Thanks dad, really uplifting." He said sarcastically.

"Anytime."

Nathan's scroll beeped with a reply. Fishing out the phone he had a message from Ruby, it was a picture of her taking a selfie with Weiss. Ruby had a big smile on her face while Weiss looked uncomfortable with Ruby's arm around her. The picture came with a simple text of "Thanks! You think we can hang out tonight?"

He texted back. "You sure you won't be tired and need your rest?"

"Sleep is for the weak!"

"Ok, I guess just let me know when you're coming."

"K, gotta go."

Putting his phone away Nathan went back to work on the customers' weapons while having the tournament play in the background with occasional watching during his mini-breaks. Most of the work was done, the weapon that took the longest was a mace whose owner wanted engraving on the shaft of the weapon. There was still others but they can wait until tomorrow, he went to get cleaned up before Ruby shows up.

When Ruby got there she yelled excitedly: "Weiss'sisterandmyuncleQrowfoughteachotheritwassocool!"

"Slow down Rubes, what?" He said holding the giddy girl by her upper arms to get her to stop hopping.

"Weiss' older sister is here and so is my Uncle Qrow, they got into a fight and it was awesome!"

"Why did they fight?"

"Oh, well Uncle Qrow broke some of Weiss' sister's robots….he was drunk." Ruby said with a shrug.

"This happen often?"

"Yup! That's my Uncle Qrow for ya! I hope to be as good a huntsman as him someday." She said dreamily.

"If you keep progressing like you've been I'm certain you will….minus the alcoholism." Nathan said taking her hand and leading her down the street.

"So where you taking us tonight?"

"How do you feel about a movie?"

"Sure! What kind of movie are we seeing?"

"Horror." He stated.

"Ehh, I don't usually watch those but I think it'll be ok if you're there. Funny thing is Weiss actually really likes horror movies, on movie nights she usually picks either horror movies or historical dramas."

"Never pictured Weiss as a horror fan, maybe I should ask her what her favorites are." He wondered.

"Maybe after the tournament is over and things have settled down we can have a movie night with all five of us, maybe we can get Team JNPR to join us too."

"Could be fun, crowded though so we can't play around."

"Play around?...oh." She blushed.

He chuckled. "And we aren't doing that at the theater either."

They finally got to the theater and purchased tickets and drinks, Nathan recommended Ruby to not get food for two reasons: one being they'll get real food after the movie and two because of the movie they were about to see.

"What's 'The Thing' about?" Ruby asked when they got their seats, it wasn't a very crowded showing so they got to actually pick their spot.

"You'll have to watch and find out." He said with a grin, Nathan had already seen the movie.

The movie opened up to the frozen wastelands of northern Atlas with some guys shooting at a dog from a VTOL. What followed was a story of paranoia, infighting and alien body horror. It was a great time for Nathan, not so much for Ruby, especially during the dog kennel scene. She gripped Nathan tightly a few times, once or twice hard enough to hurt his arm. During one scene someone in the theater threw up, one of the reasons he told Ruby she shouldn't snack while watching this movie. When the movie was over Ruby released her vice-like grip of his arm and the two left the darkened room.

"So how was it for you?"

"It was gross! All that blood and guts and stuff and the heroes didn't win."

"Well it is a horror movie." Nathan said.

"I know but I like when the good guys win, some of Weiss' horror movies end like The Thing though she usually plays a different kind of horror I think she called it 'eldri-something'."

"I think it's eldritch? Supernatural stuff?" He asked.

"Yeah, like ghosts, demons and stuff."

"Still have an appetite after the movie?"

"Yeah, but please no spaghetti or noodles."

"Tacos?"

"Sure, we can pick up some and eat at the park."

They proceeded to do just that with Ruby grabbing two handfuls of the free sauces next to the drinks and other condiments before shouting "RUN!" and rose peddling her way out of the restaurant like she robbed the place. Nathan just shrugged in defeat and followed her out slightly red with embarrassment for the scene the reaper created and the mess she left.

He met her in the parking lot shoving the sauce packets in the paper bag holding their food. "What was that about?"

"Last time me and Yang ate here we took a lot of sauce and they got mad at us."

"How much did you take?"

"Well…the whole plastic tub." She answered pressing her index fingers together.

He face-palmed. "What am I going to do with you."

"You can start by kissing me." Ruby said gesturing to her cheek.

"So needy." He said walking closer and kissing her on the requested spot.

"Yay! Now to the park, my stomach is starting to growl."

Going into the park the sun was just starting to go down and the lamp posts were turning on. They found a bench to stop and munch on their tacos, luckily no one was around in the park that night it seems. Ruby was smothering her tacos with sauce, mostly the kind that came in black bags with a skull-and-crossbones on them. She noticed him watch her do this.

"I developed a high tolerance to spicy food thanks to Yang, she really likes hot and spicy stuff so of course she'd make me eat it too." She takes a bite then gulps down some soda. "Still hot." She says with her tongue hanging out.

Nathan was more conservative with his sauce, he didn't want his mouth to imitate a flamethrower. Ruby ended up with some of the sauce packets left over when they finished the tacos, she just placed them in her pockets for later.

"We should get going, I have to be in bed early for tomorrow. And Weiss will get mad if I'm late for our 'curfew'". Ruby said throwing the paper bag in the trash.

The two walked back towards the airship launch pad to Beacon holding hands and chatting some before stopping in front of the building. "Well good luck on your matches tomorrow, I'll be watching."

"You're jinxing me, now I'm more nervous about it…thanks." She said smiling.

Nathan pulled her into a hug and kissed her with Ruby returning it. "I love ya Nate." She says.

"I love you too Rubes, now get going, don't want to get lectured by Weiss do you?"

"No, and I'll try not to stay up texting you, no promises though." Ruby said with a wink.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Finally, after much prodding from my girlfriend to post its here! I added a bonus at the end for you guys, enjoy. Rooster Teeth owns all but my shit.**

The next day was a quiet one for Nathan, RWBY didn't have any matches that day so he could concentrate with his work. Most of it was simple stuff with the most time consuming being a grenade launcher the owner wanted "blinged". This called for lots of gold plating and ivory grips with engraving all over every metal surface on the weapon. The launcher's owner was probably a pimp or some other gang member due to it's gaudiness, Nathan planned to demand a bonus from his father for the work he put into it.

Nathan's scrolled alerted him to a text which came from Ruby. "I think you might be in trouble "

"Why?"

"Uncle Qrow came by and talked with me and Yang, you eventually came up and told him about us."

"Is he coming to kill me or something like your dad?"

"No no, Uncle Qrow is cooler than dad, he probably just wants to meet you."

"If you say so."

"I know so! But just incase he does try to hurt ya let him know I'll be upset with him."

"Ok Rubes."

"Gotta go, gonna kick Yang's butt in video games."

No sooner than after getting done texting Ruby his father came into the workshop. "A guy is here to see you, says he's a friend."

"Speak of the devil."

"What?"

"Nothing, I'll be right out."

Nathan soon walked into the main shop to see an older man in shades of grey mixed with black and a cape staring at some of the shotguns on one of the walls until he noticed Nathan entering the room. "You Nathan kid?"

"Y-yeah, Nathan Carter. I'm guessing you're Ruby's uncle?"

"That's me, heard about you first from Tai and more from Pipsqueak."

"Good things I hope." Nathan's father said.

"You're shorter than I expected from what Ruby told me."

Nathan figured it was probably because Ruby is short not because he was particularly tall. "Well Ruby does tend exaggerate things."

"Yeah like your guys' fights with Grimm and your training."

Nathan's dad gave the young gunsmith a knowing look at the word 'training' before Nathan stomped on his foot in a way that Qrow couldn't see it on the other side of the counter. "Do you want to continue this outside?"

"Why? I'm not planning to threaten your life or anything, just came to see if you were some creep or something. Ruby has a difficult time in seeing the bad in others, myself included." Qrow says before fishing out a flask and taking a small swig.

"Maybe she just doesn't bring it up much." Nathan said remembering what Ruby said about Qrow's drinking problem.

"Heh, maybe kid. Just take care of her ok? Though I think she'll be the one doing that when Grimm are around."

"Well Grimm are like wheat before a scythe to her."

"Damn Yang's punny has spread to you."

"Oh gods I hope not." Nathan said with mock worry.

"Heh, I'll see you around kid, preferably always in pleasant circumstances." Qrow stated before walking out the door.

"I'd be on your toes if I were you, he's an experienced huntsman that graduated from Beacon." Nathan's father warned him.

"I know, but how did you know?"

"He's come in here on a few occasions to get ammo and minor work done on his weapon over the years though I see him less these days."

"Well if that's it I'm gonna go relax the rest of the day." Nathan said heading up to his room.

The rest of the day he mostly surfed the internet and texted Ruby. He told her about his encounter with her uncle and that it went better than he expected and didn't end with threats of bodily harm or actual injury which Ruby was grateful for, the part about her being right about Qrow not that he wasn't threatened.

The next day was more of the same but Weiss and Yang got to fight in the doubles portion of the tournament. Nathan cringed slightly at Weiss' attempt to take out the Atlas opponent Flynt but getting knocked out of the match instead leaving Yang on her own. Yang managed to beat the rollerbladed faunus and the trumpeter though. The singles will be later in the day with Yang moving to that so he would be sure to watch that fight, if he was a gambling man he'd bet on her winning.

It was later in the evening when the fight started, Nathan was watching in the workshop and was texting Ruby until the fight started telling her to wish Yang good luck. The fight started with Yang and Mercury being evenly matched, exchanging kicks and punches. It was beginning to look like Mercury was getting the advantage when he switched to ranged attacks but Yang tanked through all the damage he put out and ended the fight with a series of punches.

Nathan messaged Ruby to tell Yang congratulations on the win but then Yang suddenly shot her defeated opponent Mercury in the leg. "What the hell?" He stated along with thoughts of "Why would Yang do such a thing?" and the feed from the fight was cut off.

He messaged Ruby asking her what happened but didn't get a response until later telling him Yang was temporarily arrested and their team was disqualified from the tournament. Ruby also mentioned Yang claimed she was being attacked by Mercury and acted in self-defense. Nathan didn't believe it from what he saw but he also couldn't believe Yang would just shoot someone that was actively trying to hurt her.

Nathan continued texting her but Ruby had to juggle between talking to him and handling the fallout of the evening's events so replies were delayed. He asked if she wanted him there but told him he didn't have to. Nathan then made the offer of maybe they meet up in a little while so she can take her mind off of what happened for a brief bit. She finally gave in and said she'll meet him at Beacon at the landing pad.

The trip went about as fast as it usually does even with the influx of extra people coming and going thanks to the Vytal festival. The moon was already high in the blackened sky surrounded by the stars. When he got to Beacon he found Ruby sitting at a bench twiddling her thumbs with her hood up.

"Hey Rubes."

"Oh hey Nate." She said not moving to get up. She seemed somewhat not there and depressed, this wouldn't do.

He picked Ruby up bridal style and carried her away. "Nate! This is embarrassing!" She feebly kicked her legs back and forth.

Nathan said nothing as he took her to a nearby field and gently put her down on the soft grass that was thankfully dry. "I don't think anyone saw us."

"I hope so, what was that about?" She asked still slightly red.

"I was trying to get you out of the funk you were in, seemed to work."

"You didn't have to carry me, I can walk you know."

"It was more fun this way." He said before kissing her.

"Welllll, you aren't wrong."

"Also, Ruby."

"Yes?"

"You're open."

"What?"

Nathan proceeded to tickle Ruby's belly making her squirm trying to get away from him. "NateHAHAHAstopHAHAHA!"

"Nope." He continued the tickle assault and held her down.

"HAHAHAHAyou'regonnaHAHAHAHAmakemepeeHAHAHA!"

He finally relented, don't Ruby wetting herself and also have to face her wrath. When he eased his hold of her Ruby jumped on top of him and began to nom his neck with little bites. "NOM NOM NOM!"

"Oww! Rubes some of those hurt."

She started adding licks to her nibbles, this action started to get Nathan hard. He contemplated doing Ruby right there until they heard a forced feminine cough nearby.

"I thought I'd find you two out here but could you at least do that somewhere private." Said Weiss crossing her arms.

"THISISN'TWHATITLOOKSLIKE!" Ruby sputtered out her face becoming the same color as her cloak, Nathan's face wasn't far behind.

"Whatever. Just don't go making more Rubys, one is more than enough." Weiss said before walking away back to their dorm.

"That was close, almost thought of doing…that."

"Huh?"

"You know." Nathan made the same hand gesture his mother did earlier.

"Oooooh…that. W-we can if y-you want." She said pushing her index fingers together.

"But where? Your team is in your room and it's a bit late to go anywhere."

"Hmm, maybe behind there?" She said pointing to the groundskeeper's shed where all the landscaping tools and machines are kept.

"Maybe, but shouldn't you head back?"

"Well to be honest….I-I'm a l-little hot and bothered now."

Nathan stood up and helped Ruby up as he did. "Let's go then." He said holding her hand.

The two circled around behind the shed just before Ruby pushed Nathan into the wall and pulled him down by gripping his collar to kiss her due to their differences in height. He then grabbed a hold of Ruby's waist and moved her up against the wall, her booted feet dangling off the ground so that she was now head level with him. Nathan kissed her deeply before taking a few bites of her neck causing the red reaper to make small moans as he did so.

She pulled him closer and fumbled with undoing his belt making Nathan chuckle a little.

"S-shutup, d-do you have any?" She asked.

"I-I think so." He let her down briefly so he could search his pockets finding he did indeed have a rubber.

Ruby finished opening up Nathan's pants exposing his shaft. He began putting on the condom as Ruby worked with pulling down her leggings and her red panties. Nathan then moved in between her legs so her pulled down cloths wouldn't get in the way before lifting her up again and placing her against the wall. He felt around for her passage to guide himself in and found she was very wet, holding her waist and using the wall as leverage Nathan shoved his member in.

He kissed her pushing the back of her head into the wall but not too hard to hurt her. Nathan started a rhythm of thrusts inside Ruby, she must've have been pretty horny already because she climaxed pretty quickly with a loud gasp and Ruby roughly gripping his back momentarily. He kept going after he took his shirt off because he was starting to sweat profusely. Ruby soon came again from being impaled causing her to leave some marks on Nathan's back.

"Oww."

"S-sorry….need to…trim…my nails." She stammered between pumps.

He was getting close, he held Ruby's arms outstretched above her head as he kissed her. A few more thrusts later he shot his load making him grip her hands tighter, the two sharing a soft kiss with them panting from the now completed activity.

"Love…you." He said exhausted.

"Love you…too Nate."

The couple stayed like this for a few minutes before Nathan pulled himself out and placed her down and moved out from between Ruby's legs. She pulled up her leggings and panties while Nathan got rid of the rubber and pulled his pants back up.

"Hey Rubes?"

"Hmm?"

"Your groundskeeper doesn't live in the shed does he?"

"Oh gods I hope not!" She said trying to keep her voice down.

"Well we should get going before we find out. I'll see you later and I love you." Nathan said hugging and kissing her goodbye.

"Love you too Nate, don't forget to keep watching the matches, two of my friends are still in."

"I will, bye Rubes." He said with a wave with Ruby soon disappearing into rose petals back to her dorm.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	17. Chapter 17

**New chapter for you guys, hope ya like it. Everything belongs to RoosterTeeth but my stuff.**

Today Nathan worked on his personal weapons, first being a prototype batch of shotgun rounds for the underbarrel 30mm grenade launcher on his pulse rifle. When he tested it out on a paper target the kickback from the shots was less severe than the regular grenade rounds and the shot pattern on the pseudo Grimm was similar to a run-of-mill shotgun. Though it was still effective it wasn't as impressive as the 40mm variety of his old rifle which normally obliterated the paper and cardboard targets.

Afterwards Nathan brewed up some more dust grenades, the red, yellow and blue rounds lining up on his workstation. He thought of mixing some of the dust elements to see what kind of effects it would have but decided to leave it as maybe a project he and Ruby could work on together.

Bringing up thoughts of Ruby made him smile at the weapon he was working on as a gift to her. Fighting her taught him that if you get past her scythe blades she is vulnerable so he set about modifying an Atlas combat pistol set up for competition use(HK USP Elite), it comes with a longer barrel and slide than the regular model and is fitted with barrel weight to keep down muzzleflip. He noticed that Ruby is left-handed so he installed an ambidextrous safety along with converting the pistol to selective fire so she can now go fullauto when things get extra hectic. The finishing touch was coating the slide in a dark red finish so it'll match the red reaper. When the finish was done drying off he reassembled it and test fired the pistol on the range, there was no change in accuracy as it was already impressive out of the box however it was a bullet hose on fullauto with it dumping the 18 round magazine in less than a second.

Testing done he cleaned it and placed it in a small case with 10 magazines and a holster for the pistol and pouches for the mags. Nathan was already imagining Ruby nerdgasming over his handiwork when he gives it to her.

He just closed the case when he heard that Ruby's friends Penny and Pyrrha were about to fight, Nathan turned up the volume a little as earlier it was non-stop ads between matches. He swore that the tournament was 90% advertisements.

The fight started and so far it was pretty interesting, Nathan has never seen guided swords before. He assumed they were wire-guided like some missiles he has seen but those were meant to be disposable, not to be used over and over again the way Penny seems to be using them. Pyrrha on the other hand was making Nathan think she was some kind of psychic or something with her being able to just barely avoid blows and retrieving her weapon and shield from a distance.

Things were not going so great for the armored redhead until she seemed to grab a hold of something proving Nathan right about the wires but not in the way he or the audience expected. The wires attached to the flying swords Penny commanded sliced through the green clad ginger.

It was obvious that Pyrrha didn't expect this outcome either with her visibly looking on in horror at dismembered Penny who to the surprise of everyone wasn't a human girl but an android. Nathan immediately went to call Ruby but her phone wouldn't pickup, he mentally kicked himself for not getting any of her team's numbers.

Right after Penny's "death" a female voice came on over the loudspeakers that accused the leaders of the kingdoms of being corrupt and tyrannical, Beacon's headmaster Ozpin being of special mention during the monologue before the feed cut to static.

"Shit." Nathan uttered before switching channels finding the news, there was footage of Grimm hordes overrunning the border with many flying types such as Nevermores heading towards the floating colosseum. White Fang seemed to be taking advantage of the chaos and are seen deploying from Bullhead dropships and gunning down civilians or getting in firefights with Vale police and Atlas military. And speaking of Atlas military, they seem to be fighting each other with one of their aerial warships firing on the others and combat robots attacking Atlas soldiers along with the civilians.

Quickly Nathan changed into an olive drab combat uniform and donned his full armor with protective chest, shins and arms armor along with his combat helmet. He loaded up on as many magazines for his pulse rifle he could carry along with grenades. He grabbed a few other weapons to bring with him, those being a stainless magnum revolver(S&W 681) for those uncomfortable times a Grimm gets on top of you and a chunky black ex-Vale police select fire shotgun(SPAS-12) mostly for shooting open doors or close encounters.

With him all suited up he stepped out of the workshop to see his father waiting for him with a combo shotgun/baseball bat weapon popular with store owners in rough neighborhoods. "I already know where you're going."

"And? Are you going to try to stop me?" Nathan asked as he started walking towards the door.

"Actually no because I know why and you'd just waste time and aura. But you better make sure you make it back in one piece." He said before grinning. "Especially the important bits, can't have grandkids if you lose those." He said gesturing with the bat at Nathan's crotch.

"Goddamnit dad!" Nathan said as he walked out. His father was never one to let events happening around him to kill his humor.

Nathan figured Ruby and her friends would evacuate to Beacon from Amity so he planned a route to the school but first he'd have to get to an airship pad. There was sporadic gun fire in the nearby streets, Nathan thought it was probably White Fang or looters as he hasn't seen or heard any Grimm yet. He makes it to a launch pad without any drama and boarded a Bullhead that was ferrying people back and forth from Beacon. The Atlas soldiers onboard didn't question why he was there, he guessed they thought Nathan was a huntsman with how decked out he was in gear and weapons.

"I'm coming Ruby." He quietly said to himself when the transport took off towards the school.

The trip was bumpy with the pilot having to maneuver to avoid flying Grimm and when they got to the Beacon landing zone the place was beginning to be overrun with White Fang terrorists that were shooting people almost causally, that ends now.

Nathan has never killed people before but that would change today, with reluctance he cycled the pump for the grenade launcher and Nathan fired a fragmentation round into a clump of terrorists while standing in the open door of the Bullhead as the dropship was touching down to pick up more evacuees. When he jumped off Nathan began putting short bursts into the White Fang baddies, most of whom were wielding some forms of melee weapons or submachine guns however their armor was a joke being ventilated by the exploding bullets of Nathan's pulse rifle. The results were gruesome but he tried to put it to the back of his mind to deal with later.

After helping the Atlas soldiers resecure the landing zone he moved further into the school grounds. He was almost blindsided by a Beowolf, the Grimm only managed to rack its claws across his chest armor since he pulled back just in time. He leveled his rifle and put a burst into the creature. The noise attracted more Beowolves forcing Nathan to start running with him occasionally turning to fire on the Grimm to avoid being surrounded and try to reach either huntsmen or Atlas soldiers.

When he turned around another building he saw a dragon circling the greenlit clock tower. "You've got to be kidding me."

He then sees the top of the tower blow outward like an explosion and Nathan thought he saw people moving and fire. As he approached to get a closer look he saw what looked like white snowflakes leading up the side of the tower and a figure running up them at a high rate of speed. "Ruby?"

Nathan moved closer to see Weiss standing next to the tower looking upwards, he ran over to the heiress. "Weiss! Where's Ruby?"

She pointed to the top. "She went up there to help Pyrrha."

Hearing this he sprinted into the tower, shouldering open the door and stepped inside. Nathan scrambled around in a panic-like state looking for an elevator in the lobby before finding several. He started pushing the call button for all of them but only one seemed to respond coming down from above. He scanned the lobby for any threats but saw nothing more dangerous than a couple deactivated AK-200 Atlas combat robots that were probably guards for the elevators.

The elevator 'ding' made him turn back to the now opening doors showing it was empty so he quickly boarded. When the doors closed he rapidly refilled the magazine tube for the grenade launcher and swapped his partially depleted magazine in the pulse rifle for a fresh one watching the ammo counter read '95'. Nathan then slung the rifle and swapped to his shotgun making sure it was loaded and unfolded its metal stock. He tried breathing exercises to calm himself down and mentally prepare himself, he hoped Ruby was alright but he knew she could take care of herself.

The doors opened only for Nathan to be blinded by a white light like he was looking into the sun. The brightness lasted for maybe a second and when his vision cleared he saw an unconscious Ruby on the floor. "Ruby!"

Nathan ran into the room to check on the red reaper when a woman came into view that was clutching the left side of her face and she appeared to be in pain. "Who are you?"

The woman turned and threw a ball of fire in his direction which he narrowly avoided and while going through the air fired a shotgun blast back her way. He heard a scream in pain so he guessed he might've winged her.

He climbed up from the cover provided by a giant gear to check on Ruby but the woman stopped him. She threw a wave a fire his way forcing him near one of the open doors leading to an elevator shaft. He was surrounded by fire on all sides and was beginning to suffocate from the lack of oxygen. Nathan ran to leave the blaze but the woman was already waiting for him, she sent another fireball at him knocking Nathan back through the fire into the elevator shaft. "That's for my arm, bastard!"

He had a sudden feeling of weightlessness as he fell before gravity kicked in and Nathan plummeted to the bottom with a loud clang from the impact.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Decided to post this early as a gift for Easter, bit of a fluff chapter this time so it'll be meh for ya. I'm still blown away so many people follow my story, either ya'll have very low standards or high tolerance, I'm pretty sure it's the lemons. Anyways, RoosterTeeth owns all but my crap.**

Nathan woke up with a grunt to a buzzing light over his head. He looked around at the pure white room and realized he was in some kind of hospital. He looked over to the side to see he had an IV bag plugged into his arm and a bottle of water on the stand next to his bed. Nathan reached for it but his whole body was sore and felt heavy, after several tries at leaning over to get the water for his dry throat he pressed a button that he assumed was the nurse call remote.

A minute later a woman walked in. "Oh you're awake, is there anything you need?"

"Water." Nathan croaked and pointed towards the plastic bottle.

"Of course." She said politely handing him the water which Nathan proceeded to gulp down.

"What happened and where am I?"

"You're at the Vale General Hospital, as for what happened Dr. Cole will talk to you about that. I'll go let your parents know that you have woken up and I'll get the doctor." The nurse said with a smile hurrying off to her task.

The wait wasn't long as a tall lanky man in doctor's scrubs came into Nathan's room. "Hello, I'm Dr. Cole. How are you feeling Nathan?"

"I feel heavy and it's difficult to move."

"Well you did fall around sixty floors, thankfully your aura and armor took the brunt of it though we did have to do surgery. Aura can protect from most forms of damage however gravity isn't one of them."

"I guess so, how long have I been out?"

"Well you came in early in the morning so two and half days. Your parents should be here shortly, sorry I'm not giving the proper doctor treatment, we have a lot of patients here from that whole mess."

"It's ok, I should let you get back to it."

"Just let one of the nurses know if you require anything." Dr. Cole said when he hurried out.

Nathan hoped his parents can tell him more about what happened and where Ruby is. He turned on the TV to the Vale New Network, they were mostly talking about the clean up efforts and how all the Grimm that managed to get into Vale were wiped out. There was some talk on White Fang members that were taken prisoner and speculation on why the Atlas military robots went rogue.

About thirty minutes later his parents nearly knocked the door down trying to get into Nathan's hospital room. He was assaulted with hugs and kisses from his mother while his father was just thankful his son didn't appear to be permanently harmed. "Were you able to get to her?" His father asked.

"Yeah, but she got knocked out in a fight with some woman that could throw fire." Nathan answered.

"Never heard of someone just using fire before, flamethrowers or fire dust yes but just fire…" His mother said.

"She didn't seem to have any weapons when I briefly fought her and she was wounded, I'm guessing from Ruby. Did you hear from her or her team?"

"No, and the CCT is down. We've lost contact with the other kingdoms and internet and scroll service is spotty even in Vale." Said his dad.

"How long am I on the shelf?" Nathan asked.

"I already know what you're thinking mister and you're not going after Ruby…..without getting at least a week of recuperation." His mother said with a smile.

"You sure honey?" His dad said eyeing his mom.

"Yes dear, besides even if we forbade him he'd go anyway. Better he go when his aura is back than running on fumes." She replied.

"Well when can I leave this place?" Nathan said indicating the hospital.

"Tomorrow morning, they wanted to give it a bit since you just woke up and so you can walk out of here properly." Nathan's mother answered.

"Alright, can you guys bring some food?"

"Sure, I'll go bring something from the place down the street." His father said who then promptly left.

The rest of the evening they mostly talked while he ate about what happened at Beacon and his near-death experience….and the White Fang he killed. His mother talked to him about how it's never easy killing people especially the first time you do it but sometimes it's you or them. Nathan reflected further on his own mortality after his parents left, thoughts about that stopped when he began wondering if Ruby is alright and where she might be but ultimately decided he'd go to Patch first to see if maybe her and Yang might've went there after the fall of Beacon.

When he got back the next day Nathan mostly lounged in his bed. They said about him walking properly but he thinks they were using the word "properly" loosely. The stroll out of the hospital made him wheeze and his legs felt like they were made of lead but he managed, he was just glad his family had a car. He decided to put off the shower until the next day, Nathan spent the rest of the time listening to videos he had to buffer first before playing while looking at pictures of Ruby or him and her together on his scroll.

The next day after the shower Nathan was feeling much better, it didn't hurt to walk anymore and he was no longer getting winded from going up and down stairs. He went into the workshop to check his armor, there was an indent in the back plate of his chest armor and one of his shin guards was bent inwards, he was lucky the force didn't break his leg. He moved over to his weapons, the shotgun and revolver were fine however the pulse rifle which was on his back took some of the impact from his fall. The ammo counter was no longer functional, the red dot sight built into the carrying handle didn't turn on and the plastic pump handle for the grenade launcher was missing, probably shattered from striking something.

He first got to work on the rifle, molding a new pump handle this time with an internal titanium frame inside the mold for added strength. He swapped the internal electronics and the ammo counter and red dot sight became functional again. Nathan decided while he was at it to mount a flashlight to the side of the rifle.

He then moved on to the armor, first scrapping the shin guard and making a new one of the same pattern then when he got to the back plate hammered out the dent. The work left him breathing heavy but not too much more than usual tasks in the shop…..and less than "moments" with Ruby.

Once done with that he began fabricating more ammunition to make up for what was expended at Beacon and what he would take with him in his search for Ruby. If he had to go far he'd have to use the pulse rifle sparingly as Nathan would not be able to get ammo for it in any store. He thought of not bringing the weapon all together but decided to use to truly test its limits in field conditions. If it goes well he might see if any arms manufacturers would be interested in producing his rifle.

By the afternoon Nathan was setting up his gear for what could be a long trip. Changes of clothes, food, water and containers, his armor, a couple stainless steel survival knives with one having a serrated spine, sleeping bag, poncho, weapons cleaning kit and lastly Ruby's pistol in its case.

As for weapons he had many options to choose from, he stared at the table looking at what to take. The pulse rifle obviously for reasons previously stated, but he needed a good pistol. One that could drop a Beowolf relatively quickly, with Nathan trying to decide between his magnum revolver he took with him to Beacon or another(HK USP Tactical). Nathan wanted a bit more flexibility with being able to attach a suppressor for when stealth was a better idea than guns blazing and also if worst comes to worst he could share magazines and ammo with Ruby.

He toyed with the idea of just carrying a duffle bag loaded with weapons like a mercenary helping to loot ancient tombs in Vacuo but felt traveling "light" was preferable for his back. However Nathan did pack one of the most essential items of all…condoms.

After he was done Nathan ate dinner and watched videos online….the ones that would buffer anyway.

The next several days went by very slowly for Nathan with him just sitting waiting for when he could finally leave and find out if Ruby was alright. The wait was aggravating for him but when the promised day finally came he suited up almost as soon as breakfast was finished. He said his goodbyes to the parents…which he had to do several times before finally making it out of the door.

Nathan made his way over to the same airship launch pad that took him to Patch previously and boarded a flight over. Luckily not all flights have stopped, at least ones around Vale. The temperature started to drop as they got closer with Nathan being able to see his breath and started to see snow on the ground that the airship passed.

After they landed in town and Nathan deboarded he began retracing his steps to Ruby and Yang's cottage in the woods. Nathan was greeted by Zwei as he walked up the road to the house with the corgi barking and begging for pets which he gave before Zwei ran off to play in the snow.

Zwei's barking brought Tai to look outside and saw Nathan walking towards the house looking like he's ready for war. "Not here to burn the place down I hope." Tai said unsure to Nathan.

"Uhh, no. Is Ruby here? I got hurt trying to help her in Beacon and wanted to know if she was alright. Scrolls aren't really working and all that."

"Shes…fine, but she's not here anymore, left for Haven Academy in Mistral. I think Qrow had something to do with it." Tai said somewhat angrily at the end.

"Mistral? That's quite a walk, did Yang go with her?" Nathan asked setting down his rucksack.

"No, Yang is….not in a good place right now and needs rest. I don't know if she went by herself but hopefully she at least has some friends with her."

"Yeah, how long ago did she leave?"

"Yesterday actual-what are you doing?" Tai asked about Nathan suddenly throwing on his rucksack.

"Just one day behind her, thanks for the info Tai. See ya later!" He replied as he ran back down the road with snow crunching under his boots.

Nathan thought if he went in the general direction of Haven he would just need to ask people if they've seen a cute girl carrying a scythe or be on the lookout for slashed through trees.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Here's a new chapter. The reviews on "protection" amused me. Everything is owned by RoosterTeeth, my stuff is mine…unless RT buys them.**

After leaving Patch it became a journey of catchup. Ruby would always be one or two days ahead of Nathan everywhere they went. He would sometimes find traces of her and her group's travels, burned logs for fire, discarded food and drink containers, expended cartridge cases from likely battles with Grimm and bandits.

Speaking of bandits, Nathan already had several run-ins with them. They seem to have gotten bolder with the CCT system down but most of the robbers ran off pretty quick once he fired at them. He guessed they either didn't have aura or were just use to defenseless victims.

One thing that was new was sleeping in the wilderness. Nathan camped out with his family a few times but this time he was alone, no red reaper to hold his hand this time either. He always stayed near the fire at night though with it being winter and he hoped it kept most of the night predators away.

Another thing he had to get use to was wearing glasses again. He usually wore contacts but being out in the elements got his contacts dirty and they kept irritating his eyes so switched back to the old glasses. He wondered if Ruby would even recognize him with them along with the light scruff that was starting to grow on his face that he didn't want to shave off for fear he would lose something that helped warm his face slightly in the chilly weather.

Every town he came through he would ask the locals if they've seen Ruby and show them a picture if she sounded familiar. Nathan got most of his directions this way but he was still always behind. Some of the places he went through said she and her friends helped them out with Grimm and bandit problems. A few villages tried to hire Nathan on to defend them but always hard to turn them down not matter how much they offered in way of lien, luxuries and ladies.

Months passed of this journey with Nathan finding himself in Anima, the same continent that Mistral was located and Haven Academy. The boat trip wasn't to eventful, no Grimm or pirates.

Anima felt very different compared to Sanus to Nathan. To him it was like stepping back in time with much less technology and people living the same way their ancestors did centuries ago. With ancient architecture, dress and so far no electronics in sight he must've appeared almost alien to the locals.

Nathan briefly contemplated setting himself up as a warlord using his firepower seeing as firearms seem to be relatively uncommon here but changed his mind, didn't want to deal with the hassle of leading these people.

He turned his attention back to the road in front of him, one of the guards in the village he passed through said she saw Ruby's group go down this cobblestone road. To his left and right was nothing but greenery, the forest fully grown back now that it is summer again. The guard told him there was Grimm activity in the area so Nathan kept his rifle ready in case a Creep or something decided to popup.

The trek continued until he heard what sounded like gunfire up ahead, as he got closer some of the gunshots sounded familiar. As the Nathan closed the distance he recognized some of the firing to be from Ruby's Crescent Rose sniper scythe.

Nathan saw trees being felled in the distance and some dust explosions and quickly deduced that Ruby's group was in battle with either Grimm or bandits. Nathan sprinted in the direction of the distant combat, double checking his rifle's magazine to ensure it's loaded as he went.

By the time Nathan got to the scene of the fight it was already over but he saw a group of four, three of them he recognized from the dance and the tournament but the fourth one with the red cloak he knew all too well. "Ruby?"

"Huh, who are you?" Ruby said looking at him with her eyes falling on his weapon. "Nate?"

"Yeah, I just have to wear glasses and haven't shaved m-" Nathan was cut off by the reaper rose warping to him to hug him tightly.

"I'MSOSORRYIDIDN'TCHECKONYOUBUTIWOKEUPBACKINPATCHANDSTUFFHAPPENEDAND-!" Ruby rapidly stated with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Ruby..I..can't…breathe.." Nathan said at Ruby's crushing bear hug.

"Oh! Sorry!" She cheerfully said loosening her grip before sliding her hands down to Nathan's ass giving him a light squeeze.

"Uhh, Ruby?"

"Shhh, just let me have this." She whispered in his ear then kissed him several times in quick succession. When she finished Ruby rubbed her face that brushed against Nathan's light facial growth. "You're shaving this right?"

"I can, but why?"

"It hurts my face, also…since when did you wear glasses?"

"I wear contacts but they got dirty and they make my eyes hurt." He replied before Ruby took them off and put them on.

"Wow you're blind!" She said trying to move around in Nathan-vision almost losing her balance.

"Is this that Nathan guy that you said was your boyfriend?" A blonde guy that stepped forward asked.

Nathan thought the blonde's tone sounded somewhere between suspicious and jealous? But he ignored it. Taking his glasses back from the reaper. "Yes, my names Nathan."

"I'm Jaune Arc, leader of these two." He said motioning to the rest of the unnamed group.

"Nora Valkyrie!" Shouted the energetic redhead with a huge hammer.

"Lie Ren." The boy in green said in a much more reserved voice.

"We came to help out Ruby get to Haven Academy." Jaune explained.

"Yup, we just stopped to help a nearby village with some Grimm." Ruby said happily.

"For the twentieth time." Ren muttered with a small smile making Nora giggle.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go get paid, I was promised food!" Nora said impatiently.

"We will, and you mister, you're getting cleaned up when we get there." Ruby commanded while poking Nathan in the chest.

He leaned in close to her. "Care to join me?" He said with a grin.

Ruby turned red. "Nate.." She said looking away.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." He said, he knew he probably looked and smelled like a hobo.

"Well I could…" She said still embarrassed. Nathan missed teasing her, her reactions are always adorable, not that she wasn't adorable already.

"Also, I have something to give you later." Nathan said giving her a quick kiss. "Well lead the way leader."

"R-right! Back to the village." Ruby said in a leaderlike voice.

The five trekked back to the village to meet with the mayor who promptly paid them with the addition of allowing Nathan somewhere to freshen up while the rest went with Jaune to a blacksmith about his armor and weapon.

Nathan was given a small shower at what is normally a trucker rest stop but with little to no traffic moving between the kingdoms he had the place to himself. He did as Ruby ordered and washed the built-up filth off his body and shaved, once done he felt strangely lighter and really itchy, his body no longer use to being clean all the time.

He attempted to clean his contacts but all the accumulated grime ruined them and Nathan had to throw them away so he was stuck with the glasses for the time being. On the bright side Ruby seems amused by them.

When he met back up with the group Ruby spotted him first. "Now there's the Nate I know…except for the extra eyes." She said smiling and walking up to him. "But I think you got a little shorter since I saw you last." Ruby pondered comparing her height to Nathan's.

"I think you had a growth spurt since Beacon Ruby." Said Ren who was the one making sure the group was eating well on their journey.

"Could be, my old dress doesn't fit anymore. I felt like I was trying on Weiss' clothes last time I wore it." Ruby said.

Nathan thought about that and realized Ruby also grew in the chest area with her wearing a new top that accentuates that. "Nate, what is it?" Ruby asked him.

She caught him staring but she didn't seem to notice he was looking at her chest. "N-nothing, so where we going from here?"

"Shion, it's the next town over. They're supposed to still have airships there." Answered Jaune. "So, who has the map?"

"Ren's got it." Nora piped up.

"No, I don't Nora. You have it." Ren replied.

"Wait, what?" Nora said confused.

"You two are joking right?" Jaune says.

Nora just laughs nervously and says "no".

"I guess it's a good thing I brought mine." Nathan says pulling a much folded waterproofed map out of a pouch.

"Gimme that." Jaune says snatching the map from him. "Never give the map to Nora."

"Well, let's go team…plus one." Ruby announced. "To Shion then Haven!" She finished by pointing forward in a grand gesture.

"Yes General Rose." Nathan said in a mock salute like they were in the Atlas military.

"Stop that…" Ruby said waving with an anxious smile since they're in public.

They started down the road to the next village with Jaune leading the way, Ren and Nora to his sides while Ruby and Nathan were a slight distance behind them catching up on what happened. He told her about the woman he fought in the tower. Ruby told him she was a student from Haven academy or at least she thought the woman was and that her name was Cinder Fall. Ruby also mentioned that Cinder killed their friend Pyrrha and to be careful around Jaune about it. Nathan asked about the flash of light he saw but Ruby wasn't sure what that was, he told her Cinder was badly injured and her aura was low because he thinks that he wounded her.

They exchanged stories on their post-Beacon adventures, battles with Grimm being the most common between the two. The rest was mostly missing the way things were before the fall of Beacon and having fun in Vale.

"So what was it you were gonna give me?" Ruby asked expectantly. "Is it cookies? Is it strawberries?"

"No, it isn't something you eat." He answered.

She thought with her face starting to blush.

"No, not that either." He said starting to go red as well.

"Well when do I get it?"

"Whenever we settle down to camp, it's in my ruck and it'll be a pain to get to it right now."

"Ok…" She said defeated before he lightly patted her head.

"Don't be down, I think you'll really like it."

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20, can't believe I've written twenty of these things so far. In case you guys are wondering why there's been more lack of description the past couple chapters they're basically just slightly modified RWBY episodes, Nathan is just along for the ride. RoosterTeeth owns all the RWBY stuff.**

It was getting dark so they pushed off the road to make camp for the night. Ren started getting his cooking gear ready while Ruby and Nora cleared the area for anything sharp or hard on the ground where they'll sleep. Jaune and Nathan went through the woods collecting firewood, luckily it hadn't rained recently so everything they found was dry. The two didn't see any Grimm or signs of them so they relaxed a little.

"So what is Ren making?" Nathan asked carrying a bundle of branches in his arms.

"Something simple. We didn't pick up much food, he's a good cook but don't expect anything too exciting with the supplies he has to work with." Jaune answered also carrying some sticks.

"Glad I brought some hot sauce then." Nathan said.

"You..you carry hot sauce with you?" Jaune asked.

"Well yeah, hot sauce makes anything edible. Let's just say I may have had to eat things that didn't moo or oink in the last six months."

They made it back to the camp and dumped the wood in the large pile they created throughout the evening, this was their eighth trip out to get firewood. Ren already had the fire started and was cooking something over it. At some point someone set up logs around the fire to be used as seats, thankfully not too close since it wasn't cold yet.

Before he knew it Ruby rose peddled into Nathan landing on top of him. "So what'd you get me?"

"Well I was going to give it to you later." This statement caused Nora to make a look, she was having lewd thoughts.

"But I want it now!"

"Get it girl!" Nora said giving a thumbs up.

Nathan and Ruby realized their conversation and position could easily be taken out of context. The two blushed when they did.

"Nora…" Jaune said who was also slightly red.

"Aww, you're no fun." Nora sighed.

"Alright Rubes I'll give it to you, just let me up first." Nathan said.

"Yay!" Ruby chirped before rose peddling off him excited for her gift.

Nathan moved over to his rucksack and dug around inside until he found the case for Ruby's pistol. He then held it out to her. "Well, look for yourself."

She lightly took the case from him and sat down on one of the logs around the campfire. Opening up the case her face lit up, grabbing out the black and red pistol she examined it, playing with all the controls, making sure it was empty as she aimed down the sights at a nearby tree. Nathan was actually somewhat disappointed in her more reserved response to the new weapon. She then removed the holster from the case and strapped it to her left thigh, holstered unholstered and reholstered getting a feel for how it'd do on a draw.

"Nate, come here." Ruby said.

He did as she asked and when he got close Ruby grabbed him in an embrace and gave him a forceful kiss. "I love it, thank you." She said smiling.

"I'm glad you like it." Nathan said back.

"I'm glad she likes it too but foods ready!" Nora said standing next to Ren who had several small wooden bowls with forks.

"It's done, rice with beef." Ren simply stated before the group each accepted a bowl and utensil and sat on the logs to eat.

Ruby sat the bowl down next to her as she was still messing with her new pistol. Nathan sat next to her with Ren and Nora sat on the other side of the fire and Jaune to his right. Nathan tried a couple bites before adding his hot sauce. "Anyone want some?" He offered to which Nora dabbled some on her rice but the rest declined.

"Ruby, eat before it gets cold." Nathan said when he nudged her shoulder.

"Huh? Oh! Right, sorry." She replied holstering the dust pistol and picking up her previously forgotten bowl and dug in.

When they finished the bowls were cleaned in a nearby stream and the group started bedding down for the night. Jaune was further out from everyone else, Nathan assumed he just wanted space. Nora and Ren set up right next to each other while he and Ruby were side-by-side.

"Hey Rubes, are they a 'thing'?" He whispered to her about the two.

"Oh yeah, they just haven't actually made it official official." She whispered back.

"Well we certainly are." He said kissing her on the forehead. Nathan removed his armor and placed it next to his ruck and laid the pulse rifle next to his sleeping bag.

Once everyone was set up for bed they said their "goodnights" and got into their sleeping bags to rest for the next day.

"Hey Nate?" Ruby whispered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm cold."

"If y-you wanted to cuddle you could've j-just said so."

"Yay!" She quietly cheered opening up her sleeping bag to him after Nathan got out of his and slipped into hers.

She scooted her back into him and he wrapped his arms around her while she sighed happily. "I missed this." Ruby said.

"Me too, I'm just really happy to have found you." He said squeezing her.

"Yeah, sorry again for not checking up on you."

"It's ok, tracking you guys across Remnant wasn't as fun though."

Ruby turned around to face Nathan so she could kiss him. "I'm just glad you're alright too."

"Heh, I also noticed you've grown more than just height." He grinned.

"What do yo-…oh." She said realizing what he meant. "W-wanna see?"

Nathan was tempted but decided to wait until they were alone. "It can wait, maybe when we get someplace where we can be alone. Then I can give y-you your other 'gift'." He said emphasizing the point by rubbing against Ruby slightly making her blush.

"I-I c-can't wait to receive it." She replied with a lewd smile.

"Get a room, we're trying to sleep." Nora said from the other side of the camp causing the couple to go crimson at being caught talking about doing naughty things.

"We should get some sleep, night Nate." Ruby said squeezing him in her arms.

Nathan did the same in return. "Night Rubes."

The next morning Nathan woke up still in Ruby's arms but when he tried to extricate himself from her grasp she wouldn't release him. "Unh-unh." She said sleepily.

"Ruby I have to go pee."

"Unh-unh." Ruby repeated squeezing tighter.

"Rubes, I'm going to pee if you don't let me go."

"Alright alright." She let him go so Nathan could leave.

There was a layer of fog this morning but not so thick you couldn't see. When Nathan returned Ruby was already packing her sleeping gear after she put her boots back on. He did the same and by the time he was done Ren was already cooking up some powdered eggs over the fire.

They quietly ate their breakfast still trying to wake up for the day, with a little bit of coffee and tea added providing the boost everyone needed to get started. After eating they quickly packed up their camp and continued down the same road they were traveling on yesterday towards the town.

The fog had lifted by then and the sun had returned high in the sky. They've been on the road several hours now. "So the next town is…..we're lost." Ruby said looking at the map.

"We're not lost, the next town is Shion. My family used to visit it all the time." Said Jaune.

"Oh yeah. Don't you have like four sisters or something?" Ruby questioned.

"Uh, seven." Jaune replied.

Nathan felt sorry for Jaune having to put up with seven female siblings his whole life and counted himself lucky for being an only child.

"You know that actually explains a lot." Nora said jumping into the conversation.

"What do you mean?" The blonde knight asked.

"So what did you guys do around Shion?" Queried the reaper.

"Oh all sorts of stuff! Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because 'I was special'. Also so my sisters would stop braiding my hair." Jaune talked as he pointed out areas of the map.

"Didn't like the look?" Ruby asked. Nathan began to truly pity Jaune.

"Yeah, they just kept doing ponytails. But personally I think I'm more of a 'warrior's wolftail' kind of guy." Jaune said.

"That's just a ponytail." Ruby joked.

"I stand by what I said."

Nathan then notices Nora then Ren stop up ahead. He sees a village that appeared to be abandoned or destroyed.

"Uh guys?" Nora said trying to get Ruby and Jaune's attention.

They look up from the map to see what the rest of the group already sees with smoke still reaching to the sky and even a dead body nearby. The group moved further into what is probably now a ghost town with Ren pushing on ahead. Nathan kept moving his rifle muzzle over houses in case there was an ambush.

"There could be survivors." Ruby stated soon to be alerted of one by Ren.

The group ran up to see Ren had found someone, a huntsman too. He was clad in armor and appeared to be wounded, possibly internal bleeding and broken ribs.

"Huntsman!" Ruby exclaimed.

"What happened, who killed these people?" Jaune asked, almost demanded.

"Bandits, the whole tribe…and with all the panic." Was all the huntsman got out before a fit of coughing.

"Grimm." Ren stated grimly.

"Alright, we can get him to the next village and try to find a doctor there!" Ruby said already coming up with a plan.

"Yeah, Ren, Nathan and I can take turns carrying him there." Jaune suggesting.

"I don't know if he'll make it." Nora says doubtfully.

"He will, he has too." Jaune said determinedly.

"If we get going now our chances will be better. I can run on ahead and get help!" Ruby said getting ready to do just that before Nathan grabbed her arm before she could start.

"Guys." Ren said motioning towards the huntsman who just died from his wounds.

"Should we bury him?" Nora asks. Nathan thought of it too but he didn't think hanging around Shion was a good idea.

"We should go, its not safe here." Ren simply said moving ahead with Nora following him.

"It'll be ok." Ruby said placing a hand on Jaune's arm to comfort him.

"I'm just tired of losing everything." He said sadly.

"We should get going….before the Grimm come back." Nathan said urging the two to get going.

"Yeah…lets." Said Jaune with a slight undertone of anger.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Finally getting a chapter out! I would've updated sooner but I've been sick for around a week and haven't worked on the story until a couple days ago. I hope some of the content of this chapter will make up for it. Rooster Teeth owns everything but my shit.**

After the group left the dead village they marched on ahead down the road until close to nightfall. They made camp for the night with the same preparations as before including meals. As last time Ruby was "cold" and demanded cuddles from Nathan.

The next morning was a repeat of yesterday however their destination on the map was a town called Higanbana. They planned to stop there for the night so they can get better food, sleep and cleaned up. Navigation was being conducted by Ruby who had the group's map that Nora lost previously. Apparently she stuffed it into her boot and found it when she put her boots back on this morning.

"Come on guys, if we pick up the pace we can hit the next town by sunset!" Ruby said excitedly.

"If its not burned down before we get there." Nathan said snarkily.

"Of course it'll be there…and not burning. It's supposed to be pretty big! Hee-gan…bayn-a?" Ruby said trying to say the town's name.

"Higanbana." Ren corrected. "It's a well-protected village with a popular inn."

"Which means no camping in the rain!" the redhaired Valkyrie said happily.

Nathan was glad to hear that, he hated sleeping in either puddles or his head in the mud. He could almost hear his back loudly voicing its displeasure of outdoor living.

"See? Everything is going to be fine." Ruby said assuredly.

"You know, we've had a lot of ups and downs. But things could be a lot worse, I really thought we'd see more Grimm." Said Jaune at how quiet things have been lately with Ren agreeing.

"I guess our luck is finally turning around!" Said Nora optimistically.

"Or the worst is yet to come." Nathan said pessimistically.

"Quiet you, you'll jinx it." Nora retorted causing the rest to make a small laugh. "To Higanbana!" She continued followed by Jaune and Ren.

"To Higanban…ban-a!" Ruby said still unable to pronounce the town name making Nathan chuckle at her expense which led to Ruby sticking her tongue out at him.

On the way to the town the clouds that looked like it would rain finally made good on that promise with it starting just as they enter Higanbana. The group hurried through the tight streets to find the inn before getting too drenched in rain water. Nathan didn't like the looks of this town, seemed like a place people get robbed or murdered in side alleys frequently.

The inn was thankfully warm when they got inside after the group wringed out what they could under the overhang above the doorway. Talking to the innkeeper they got 3 small rooms, each fitted with a small walk-in shower and an old TV that picked up some local channels, no on-demand anymore. Ruby passed out the other two keys with one going to Ren and the other to Jaune being the odd man out.

"Let's get cleaned up and later when the rain goes away we can get something to eat." Ruby said to the group.

"And pickup more food." Nora said wanting to refresh some of their supplies.

They went upstairs to enter their separate rooms with Nathan already starting to remove his ruck and armor as soon as the door started to close. He had just got his camouflage jacket and undershirt off when he noticed Ruby watching him with slight red on her face.

"Rubes? You ok?" Nathan asked her putting the discarded clothes in a pile.

"Huh? What?" Ruby said almost like she was leaving a trance.

"You were staring."

"I-it's just you've grown some since the l-last time I've seen you like this." She answered motioning to his slightly more toned body. "C-can I touch it?"

"Yesss?" Nathan said somewhat confused.

Ruby walked over and poked his belly. "Not as soft as it used to be." She then reached up and felt the muscles in his arms.

"Ruby?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you d-doing?"

"What Yang calls 'marveling.'" Ruby answered.

Nathan had some ideas on the things Yang may have 'marveled' at.

"Can I-I finish getting undressed?"

Ruby became redder. "Oh ye-I mean alright."

He quickly undid and removed his boots before pulling down his pants, there was a large lump under his boxers as Ruby's light attentions have given him a boner. "S-so, are you showering first or am I?"

"W-we can shower t-together." Ruby said started to undo her top.

Nathan watched Ruby remove that along with her stepping out of her dress which she let fall to the floor leaving the reaper in just her bra, underwear and leggings. He saw she had grown as well in the time they were separated causing his glasses to begin fogging up forcing their removal. "I c-can see why your old d-dress doesn't fit anymore."

"S-shutup Nate." Ruby said slightly embarrassed. "I miss my old outfit but..gotta grow up some day."

He walked closer to her and kissed her on the lips. "Want to..you know?"

Ruby made a small nod before Nathan picked her up causing her to laugh ending with him laying Ruby on the small mattress the room provided. He got on the bed with her as he kissed her again followed by Nathan licking the side of her neck making the red reaper giggle because she was getting a tickling sensation. He then bit her neck lightly causing her to let out small moans.

Moving to her bra he was lucky it was front-closure bra so he wouldn't have to fiddle with hooks in the back. With the black coverings removed Nathan groped her warm breasts underneath. "I'm not the only one that has grown." Ruby just smiled at him still too embarrassed to say anything.

He then proceeded to slide off her black panties that have become moist from the excited reaper. Nathan began to lick her private area making Ruby squirm and grip the cheap blankets of the bed forcefully. He stuck his tongue in a few times for good measure and he thought she might've climaxed at least once from how hard she squeezed his head between her thighs.

When he got up Ruby looked disappointed that that particular ride was over. "Awww, why'd y-you stop?"

"Well I have to g-give you your p-present remember? I just have to w-wrap it first." Nathan answered fishing out some non-fatal protection from his ruck and pulling off his boxers.

"I-I think you g-got b-bigger since last time." Ruby said looking at his member. "It's gonna h-hurt again isn't?"

"Not as b-bad as the first time." Nathan said as he wrapped Ruby's other 'gun' present.

Nathan got back on the bed and positioned himself above Ruby before slowly slipping into her not wanting to hurt her since it had been awhile since they last did it, this did not stop her from gasping in minor pain though.

Holding her wrists to the bed Nathan began slowly along with more kissing until Ruby whispered for him to go faster. He lightly bit down on the side of her neck as he thrusted into her more forcefully making the cheap bed's headboard hit the wall behind it. The noise from that briefly embarrassed them but the two kept at with Ruby cumming again and squeezing Nathan tightly with her arms and legs.

Nathan kept going getting close when Ruby climaxed again and scratching his back as she gripped him. He grimaced at the sharp sudden pain but finally released his load before collapsing on top of Ruby resting his head on her breasts, both are covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

Ruby chuckled and ruffed Nathan's hair. She was about to say something and there was something that sounded like a fist hitting the wall separating their room from the one next door followed by a voice: "Round two! Round two!"

"I…I think..Nora heard…us." Ruby said with a somewhat nervous smile.

I-i think the whole building heard us." Said Nathan whose voice was muffled by Ruby's rubies.

"We didn't put a hole in the wall did we?" Ruby asked.

Nathan looked up but couldn't see the wall through the solid headboard and had to get up to look. "Lets take a shower." Nathan said slowly extricating himself from her.

He went to check and observed there was an indent left in the wall but that could be from previous tenants for all they knew. He helped her out of bed and walked with her resting a hand on her behind.

"Heh, just don't do that in public." Ruby said at the butt touch.

"No promises." Nathan said back grinning. "And besides, I like your booty."

Ruby blushed at his comment. "Shutup Nate." She said with a smile as she turned on the water in the shower.

When Nathan turned to make sure there were towels Ruby inspected the "damage" she had done to his back, she saw the scratch marks her nails had left but then saw three diagonal lines across his back near Nathan's right shoulder. "What's this?" She asked running her hand down the scars.

"Beowolf, caught me when I was setting up a camp several months back." Nathan said. "My aura couldn't properly heal it because I was low from earlier that day. Had to help a small town with some bandits."

"At least you aren't camping alone anymore." She said hugging him.

"Yeah, now let's get in the shower before the others take all the hot water." He said allowing Ruby to get in the shower first.

The red reaper stepped under the warm water letting it run over her body as Nathan stepped in and hugged her from behind. The two just stood like this for several minutes before finally getting cleaned up. After the shower and getting dressed in semi-clean clothes they were just about ready to go eat dinner with the others with Ruby just finishing putting on her boots.

"Ugh, I'm so not looking forward to seeing Nora and probably Ren after that." Ruby said dreading meeting up with them.

"Can't be too bad, after all you said they screw around right?"

"Yeah but….they usually keep it on the downlow."

"It'll be fine, I doubt Nora will tease you about it too much." Nathan said rubbing Ruby's shoulder though he felt a strange chill when he said Nora's name.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Finally posting, some events and fights will diverge slightly from the show mostly to ease writing so expect it won't be just a RWBY novelization. My excuse this time is work, by the time I get off I just don't have the energy to write so progress slows, ugh. Also D, whoever you are you leave some of the weirdest and most random reviews ever, keep it up I guess. RoosterTeeth owns everything blah blah blah.**

The meet up for dinner went as expected. Nora teased Ruby and Nathan about their noisy "activities" in their room. The wild redhead kept pressing for details but Ruby was rendered speechless from embarrassment, mostly making her skin match her cloak. Nathan was a similar shade of crimson but kept his mouth shut as well about the two's private time.

The rest of the dinner was fine minus Nora's probing with the group deciding they'll set off in the morning. When Nathan and Ruby made it back to the room that night Nathan was surprised to see Ruby wearing the shirt he let her keep from that rainy day. The black shirt was more of a charcoal grey now but still she kept it as a nightshirt. Ruby combined this with some red booty shorts style underwear. Nathan was just going to sleep in his boxers. He flipped on the TV mostly just for background noise, it was just local news and weather so not much going on.

"Still have the shirt?" He said pointing at the worn clothing.

Ruby stretched out the hem to look at it slightly exposing her belly. "Yeah, I sometimes sleep with it…..mostly cause it smells like you." She said the last part with a small blush.

"Smells like me?"

"Yeah…is that weird?" She asked tilting her head to one side.

"I..I don't know?" Nathan said as his only dating experience was with Ruby. "I guess not." He said with a shrug.

"Ok, lets cuddle!" Ruby says this as she jumped onto the bed.

Nathan chuckled as he got into bed with the red reaper with her snuggling against him as they watched the news. They were slowly drifting off to sleep until they heard the sounds of stressed springs and someone yelling "I'm queen of the castle!" in the next room.

"I think that's Nora." Nathan said.

"Y-yeah, I think what we did earlier might've got them 'in the mood'." She answered.

Hearing the noise was giving Nathan a stiffy which Ruby soon noticed. "Hey there mister, I can feel that."

"I know I know, down boy." Nathan said to himself.

"You're silly Nate." Ruby said rolling over to look at him.

"You." He replied before kissing her.

"We can fix that…if you want." Ruby said going red.

"But aren't you still sore from earlier?"

"Yeah b-but I can d-do the other thing."

"What oth-oh." Nathan said thinking she meant oral. "But you said it tasted nasty."

"It does…but I can still d-do it." She said pressing her index fingers into each other.

Nathan thought about it for a fraction of a second before laying on his back. "Ok Rubes, go for it."

Ruby sat up and pulled Nathan's boxers down to release his erection from the cloth prison and began to stroke him with her hand. Bending herself downwards Ruby tentatively licked the head of his dick before she started taking him in her mouth. The reaper started bobbing her head or alternating to her hand. Nathan's member was slick with saliva from her mouth with a tiny puddle starting to form on the bed that'll have to be cleaned up with towels later.

She looked up at him as she sucked making her blush even more when they made eye contact for more than a second. Nathan was already getting close with him moving his hips to thrust upward into Ruby's mouth. This motion made her gag and stop. "Don't choke me Nate."

"Sorry Rubes." He apologized but she had already continued.

Soon Nathan emptied himself into her mouth with her swallowing the bitter fluid and she started to lick up the remnants coming out of his member. "Still nasty."

"Then why are you…licking it up?"

"I don't know, just wanna." Was her answer. This confused Nathan but he let it go.

When she was finished he grabbed a cloth towel to clean the mess and the two went to bed for the night. In the morning the two quickly showered, dressed and joined the others after returning their room key. They ate a small breakfast at the same diner the group had dinner at last night with Nora taking extra pancakes for the road. Jaune had the much folded map this time around though so far the stone road they were on didn't branch off anywhere.

"Another day, another adventure!" Said the redheaded girl with her arms spread wide.

"What's on the agenda today?" Ruby asked. Nathan assumed it was a rhetorical question since it would involve moving your feet down a hard, flat surface for the day.

"Lot's of walking." Jaune simply said not looking away from the map.

"With a side of-" Nora started before Ren finished with "More walking."

"Haven is a lot further away than I thought." Ruby said with a heavy sigh.

"How long did you think this journey was going to take Ruby?" Ren asked her.

"I don't know! I grew up in a small area, I've never been this far away from home!" Ruby said apprehensively.

"Right but…how long?" Jaune questioned.

"Maybe like, uh….two weeks?" Ruby answered pressing her index fingers together not looking at the blonde boy.

Jaune and Nathan both looked at the map before looking back at Ruby. "What?!" Was all that Jaune could say.

"Ok fine! Three or something!" Ruby said looking away. "Look, whatever." She continued until she noticed something up the road. "Hey, what's that?" She pointed.

Nora jumped onto the remnants of a wooden fence to peer at some of the ruins ahead.

"That's strange." Jaune said looking at the map. "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days." Nathan looked at the map as well and didn't see any settlements for quite awhile.

"Maybe our map is out of date?" Nathan proposed.

"Shouldn't be, we picked this up before we left Vale." Jaune replied.

"Are those buildings damaged?" Nora said looking at said structures.

"We should search for survivors!" Jaune said closing up the map.

Nora jumped to the rooftops while the rest of the group stayed on the ground and advanced into the town to find it deserted.

"Anything?" Ruby asked the group.

"Nothing over here!" Nora said from a nearby roof.

"I got nothing." Nathan said looking into the broken window of what he guessed was a shop.

"No one over here either!" Jaune answered.

"It almost seems like…the town was abandoned." Ren observed.

The group expanded their search further into the town until Nora called out that she found something. They gather around Nora who was removing some overgrowth from a wooden sign that revealed what they guessed was the town's name: Oniyuri.

"Oniyuri? Never heard of it." Said Nora.

"Me neither." Jaune and Nathan said at almost the same time.

"I have." Ren said darkly. "You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn had it never been completed. Years ago the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council they pooled their resources together to build their own city with their own laws. They hoped that one day it could maybe even become its own kingdom. Many thought it would be the future." He continued walking away. "I know my parents did."

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

"What always happens." Ren said with an undertone of anger as he clenched his fists.

"The Grimm." Jaune simply said.

"Not just any, one." Ren said.

Nathan wondered how one Grimm could take out an entire town, this thought made him even more uneasy than he already was.

"One?" Ruby said unsure if she could believe it.

The wind started to pick up some with leaves blown across the streets of the village.

"Come on, lets get through here. This place gives me the creeps." Jaune said with Nathan agreeing with him and causing him to grasp for Ruby's hand making her look at him.

"Well, let's get outta here." Nathan said to her which she nodded.

The group was leaving town with Nathan and Ruby still continuing their handholding when Ren ahead of them held up his hand to stop. Nathan readied his rifle for trouble, Ren does as well with the others following suit. The sound of laughter came from above as the group looked up Ren swiftly intervened blocking a man that appeared to be armed with some type of wrist-blades with a maniacal look in his eyes.

His target seemed to be Ruby as he kept making moves for her but kept getting intercepted in his attacks. The laughing man went for Ruby again slashing at her while she defended from his cuts with Crescent Rose even after the man landed a small cut on her right arm making her give out a shout of pain. Jaune ran forward and shoved the man away making the lunatic jump from his shield and used Nora's Magnhild to boost jump up to a nearby building to hang down from above gazing down at them.

"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune said still at the ready for more from the crazy man.

"Yeah." Added Nathan aiming the pulse rifle towards the man angry at himself for not acting when Ruby was being attacked.

"Who are you?" Ren questioned.

The arm bladed man jumped down from the building doing a midair flip as he does so before landing in front of the group. "Who I am matters not to you." He says pointing at Ren. "Or you or you." Pointing at Nora and Nathan. "Or…well you do interest me." He finished pointing at Jaune with a creepy smile. "No, I only matter to you." He ended pointing at Ruby.

"Me?" Ruby says tilting her head confused on why this man would want her.

Ruby's confusion caused the man to laugh. "You, you haven't the slightest clue do you? Oh how exciting this must be!"

"What do you want?" Ruby said with an undertone of determination in her voice. Nathan had his suspicions it was of a sexual nature but kept it to himself.

"Oh, the rose has thorns! My little flower I'm here to whisk you away with me!" The man replied. His response irritated Nathan, the only one that would be whisking any roses away would be him.

"Well what if she doesn't want to go with you?" Nora said hefting her hammer slightly.

"Well, I'll just take her." The man answered.

His words made Jaune and Nathan move in front of Ruby to block his path with Nathan thumbing in shotgun rounds into the rifle's grenade launcher. "We're not going to let you do that." Jaune stated.

"Good." Was all the man said before he made his move to attack with Nathan firing off a shotgun blast that staggered the man slightly when he lost his footing dodging the shot. Ren used this to his advantage peppering the man's aura with bullets from Storm Flower. Jaune runs up to stab with his sword but the man uses Jaune's shield as a surface to kick off of and away from him to move towards Ruby.

The two traded blows with their respective blades with the man locking her scythe with his wrist-blades, it was then Ruby remembered the pistol and quickly drew it to shoot the man several times in the stomach which earned her a kick to the ribs.

Nora used the distraction to boop the man in the side of the head with her hammer sending him temporarily spiraling through air before stopping himself with his tail, a scorpion tail.

"He's a Faunus?" Said Ren.

"What is this about? The White Fang? Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asked, almost demanded.

"Plastic soldiers and pawns. My heart and body belong only to our goddess." The man said.

"Cinder." Ruby said.

The man scoffed. "Only in her wildest dreams." And then the man was back on the attack now using his scorpion tail as a weapon but was stopped by an older man with a large sword. The swordsman was very familiar to a certain reaper and the rest of the group recognized him with Nathan having mixed feelings of relief and anxiety.

"Hey." Was all Qrow said with a smile making the other man giggle like a maniac.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Finally got this done! It's a bit of a talky chapter but this is Volume 4 so expect more…I know I hate it too.**

"As I live and breathe, Qrow Branwen, a true huntsman has entered the fray!" The faunus man said happily.

Qrow gives Ruby a look before she answers with: "I don't know, this guy is weird."

Qrow turned back to the manic. "Look pal, I'm not sure who you are, but you need to leave my niece alone." Qrow's warning only made the man laugh.

"Why friend, my name is Tyrian and I'm afraid that is not possible. My assignment from Her Grace was to retrieve this young girl, so that is what I must do. One does not upset the Queen." Tyrian retorted.

"Queen?" Ruby questioned not knowing who Tyrian was talking about.

"Salem." Qrow answered.

"Who?"

"Hmm, I think we've had enough talk now don't you?" Tyrian said getting impatient and getting into a combat stance.

"Took the words right out o-" Qrow started before being interrupted by Tyrian who rushed forward who tried to stab him with the blades mounted to his wrists. Nora and Ren moved to attack from the side but Tyrian disengaged from Qrow to fire the guns built into his wrist weapon at the two while simultaneously dodging Qrow's counter attack.

Jaune ran forward to get a stab in but Tyrian deflected his blade giving the blonde a creepy smile before Ruby began firing at Tyrian forcing him to jump away. This move was what Nathan was waiting for as he then fired a fire dust grenade at the man enveloping Tyrian's immediate area in fire. "Got 'im!" Nathan yelled out before Tyrian came running out at him from the cloud of smoke caused by the fire.

Nathan quickly blocked the path of Tyrian's blades with his pulse rifle giving Ruby a chance to attack him from behind. "Get away from him!" She yelled slicing her scythe horizontally.

Tyrian managed to just barely jump over Ruby's blade which almost gutted Nathan and land behind her and give out a chuckle. "You're mine!" Tyrian bellowed but Qrow gave him a slash across his back. "Gah! Bastard!" He continued followed by wildly slashing at Ruby's uncle.

Ruby jumps in to help Qrow but during one of her slashes she missed exposing her back to Tyrian who proceeded to take advantage and swung his scorpion stinger around to strike but Qrow jumped in front of Ruby taking the hit instead.

Tyrian gave out a brief laugh but that laughter turned into a scream of pain when the red reaper quickly sliced off the end of Tyrian's tail. "You bitch!" He yelled angrily at her.

Ruby took a defensive stance to protect Qrow while the rest of the group moved to protect Ruby.

Tyrian takes a few steps back. "She'll forgive you." He said to himself before fleeing the area.

Qrow was down on one knee when Tyrian left breathing heavily from exhaustion and whatever poison Tyrian might've used. "Uncle Qrow! Are you okay?"

Qrow smirked through the pain. "I'll fine, he just grazed me." He said looking at his bloody hand he had covered the wound with.

"Who was that guy?" Nora asked.

"How did he get here?" Ren questioned as well.

"Why are people after Ruby?" Jaune inquired.

"Who is Salem?" Nathan added to the list of queries.

"Uncle Qrow, what's going on?" Said Ruby.

"What's your favorite fairy tale?" Qrow asked back as he clutched his wound. He relayed to the group the story of the four maidens and the old man after they had set up camp for the night. Together they sat on logs around a campfire sitting in silence after Qrow finished the tale.

"Really, no questions?" Qrow said after putting away his flask he was just previously drinking from.

"Of course we have questions. This is just..a lot to take in." Jaune said still processing what Qrow told them.

"Sure, of course." Qrow said back with a sigh.

"So these maidens…they're powerful fighters that don't need dust to use magic." Ruby stated with Qrow confirming she was correct.

"And there are four of them?" Nora asked holding up four fingers.

"Yup, always." Qrow answered the redhead.

"Which means that whenever one of them dies the power transfers to someone: a female, that they cared about?" Ren said.

"Whoever was in their last thoughts. Important distinction, best option is someone we can trust. Regardless, their souls become combined in a way." Qrow answered with added information.

"And that's what you were trying to do to Pyrrha the night the tower fell. You were trying to turn her into one of them." Jaune said whose voice was beginning to fill with anger.

"The previous fall maiden Amber had been attacked. She was young and inexperienced, and her assailant who we now know is Cinder somehow managed to steal some of her power but not all of it. We were afraid that if we didn't do something the rest would go to her as well." Qrow replied.

"So you forced it on Pyrrha." Jaune said accusingly.

"We didn't force anything, we explained the situation and gave her the choice and she chose. You were there, you heard her." Qrow shot back which made Jaune slump his head in defeat before walking off away from the campfire.

"That guy, Tyrian, why was he after me?" Ruby asked.

"Well you definitely painted a target on your back with what you did at Beacon. I told you having silver eyes is a rare trait and the fact that you were able to use them seems to have upset some very powerful people. Not many people know about the silver eyes. Those that do aren't very happy that one has surfaced, that's why I've been keeping an eye on you in order to make sure you were safe. All of you." Said Qrow.

Nathan wondered about the silver eyes, he figured Ruby just had a unique eye color but other than that nothing special.

"Well then why not just travel with us? It seems like that would've been way easier." Ruby said.

"He was using you as bait." Jaune stated from outside the group's camp circle.

"Look I wouldn't put it like that, it's complicated." Qrow said.

Nathan didn't like that answer but before he could say anything Jaune beat him to it. "What is all of this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, all for what?! What is the point of all this?! Will you just tell us what is going on?!" Jaune practically yelling as he stomped closer towards the group.

"Would you sit down, you're stressin' me out kid." Qrow said which Jaune complied but was still angry. "Not many people are super religious these days, this world has been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real."

Qrow takes a swig from his flask before continuing. "They were two brothers. The older sibling, the god of light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile the younger brother, the god of darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations the god of darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something, something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything."

"The creatures of Grimm." Ruby stated.

"You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever he proposed that they make one final creation...together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow, the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be." Qrow said before taking another sip from the flask.

"But what does that have to do with us?" Ren questioned him.

"Well, that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind: knowledge, creation, destruction and choice aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form left behind by the gods before they abandoned Remnant and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four they'd be able to change the world. That's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose: guarding the Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself... and, of course, keeping them out of her reach. So yeah there's that." Qrow finished.

"Her, you mean Salem?" Ruby said.

"That's right, not much is known about her. Quite frankly that's not what matters. What matters right now is that she wants the Relics and if she gets them it's not going to end well." Said Qrow.

"Alright so let's say we believe all this. There really is this crazy evil being behind these attacks, not just some thugs trying to become powerful. Why doesn't the world know? Why isn't Atlas going after them? Or Mistral?" Jaune asked Ruby's uncle.

"And why aren't we in more of a hurry to get to Haven? Shouldn't we be getting them a message? What if they're next?" Nora added.

"The headmaster over there saw what happened to Beacon. He's not dumb, he'll be on his guard. Besides it takes time to mobilize forces like that. Do you really think they planned out that attack on Beacon overnight?" Qrow said pointing at Jaune. "And to answer your question it's the same reason we keep quiet about the Maidens. If the whole world knew about the Relics, about Salem, there would be chaos. There'd be another Great War on our hands and this time you'd have to fight." Qrow emphasized his point by pointing at Jaune again. "Look I had the same questions too. But ol'Ozpin would always put his foot down. 'We can't cause a panic.' Heh, can't tell you how many times I've heard that. Salem's smart, she works from the shadows using others to get what she wants so that when it comes time to place the blame we can only point at each other. She's trying to divide us: humanity, and so far she's done a pretty damn good job." Qrow answered.

"Alright so what should we do?" Ruby said.

Qrow briefly chuckles. "I don't really know." His words made the group uneasy. "Ozpin has put a lot of trust in the headmasters. Like I said, the schools are an important part of stopping Salem. Atlas is going to be on high alert after the last attack and Vacuo is…well, Vacuo. It'll be hard to hire thieves and scoundrels to fight against other thieves and scoundrels. Take that, add in the fact that Cinder and her crew claim to be from Haven and I think it's likely the next target. So we're on our way to the headmaster. Haven't heard from him in a while, even before the attack. I'm hoping he has the answers."

Qrow starts to groan from his injuries. "Alright, I think it's time you kids got some sleep."

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah?" Qrow replied.

"This is a lot to take in and it all sounds crazy but...I'm willing to do whatever I can to help because I trust you. But why couldn't you trust me? Why couldn't you just travel with us, instead of this secrecy, and..and." Ruby said.

"Look this has nothing to do with trust. I..It's a long story okay?" Said Qrow.

"Seriously? Now you're tired of telling us stories?" Nora said. Nathan chuckled internally at what Nora asked.

Qrow started to poke the fire with a stick as he stared into it. "Did you know that crows are a sign of bad luck? Old superstition but it's how I got my name. See, some people can absorb electricity and some people can burst into rose petals and some people are just born unlucky. My Semblance isn't like most, it's not exactly something I do. It's always there whether I like it or not. I bring misfortune. I guess you could call me a bad luck charm, comes in real handy when I'm fighting an enemy but it makes it a little hard on friends...and family."

"Well you are just a real bundle of help aren't you?" Jaune stated sarcastically which earned him some glares from the group.

"Yeah." Was all that Qrow said as he walked away from the campfire.

"Where are you going?" Ren said.

"Taking a walk." Qrow answered not looking back.

"There's nothing else you want to tell us?" Ruby asked.

Qrow pauses for a moment looking at something before answering. "Not tonight." Before he continued walking.

The group decided to take Qrow's advice and get some sleep. Ruby and Nathan shared a sleeping bag again for the night. Partly because they've grown to like sharing a sleeping bag and partly Nathan wanted to be closer to make sure she is safe. The fire was dying down with it just being embers but the two were still awake on thoughts about what Qrow had told them.

"Can't sleep?" Nathan whispered to her.

"No, it's just a lot of stuff to take it. I feel like I'm in Dr. Oobleck's class again at Beacon." She answered.

"That's that guy that talks really fast right?"

"Yeah, he throws so much at you you can barely get it all down in notes. I don't know how Weiss did it."

"Heh, well I don't think you'll be quizzed on the whole maidens, gods and stuff tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think I might be able to sleep now." Ruby rolled around to face Nathan and kissed him. "Goodnight Nate."

"Night Rubes, things will be better in the morning." He said hugging her close as they finally fell asleep.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Short chapter this time, sorry for that and the wait, lot's of stuff came up so less energies to write. As for what you said FourLivingCreatures in your review I have thought about that, might be able to implement some stuff in volume 5 which we're getting close to. Anyways RoosterTeeth owns everything but my stuffs.**

The next morning Nathan was awoken to Ruby struggling out of his arms and the sounds of coughing. When she got up he looked over to see Qrow examining his hand that was covered in some kind of purple liquid. His bandage covering the wound on his side was stained the same color as the liquid.

"Well….that's unfortunate." Qrow said with a groan before slumping over sitting with his back to a tree.

A while later the group was back on the road again with Qrow being carried on a hastily assembled litter with Jaune and Nathan on each end. Ruby was walking beside the stretcher giving reassurances to Qrow, more so whenever he was jostled by a misstep from one of the two litterbearers."Just hold on, Uncle Qrow."

"Tai. She's not...coming...Tai." Qrow was muttering to himself in his delirium before an onset of coughing.

"He's getting worse." Jaune said worriedly.

"Yeah, if we don't find a doctor soon…" Nathan didn't finish his sentence because he realized what he said would make Ruby worry more.

"How much farther?" Ruby said aloud to everyone.

"We've gotta be close." Nora answered her.

"Without the map there's no way of knowing. But I feel like we're close to something." Ren also answered Ruby before stopping at a fork in the road ahead.

"What is it?" Ruby asked as the group got closer to Ren.

It was a signpost with wooden arrows that had the names of towns on them and the general direction of said locations. Curiously one of those town's names was crossed out.

"Hey hey! Mistral! We're on the right path! Oh..." Nora shouted pointing at the sign happily until she looked where the Mistral arrow was pointing.

"Does it say how close?!" Ruby asked as Nora was blocking her view of the sign.

"No and it looks like the path takes us up the mountains." Ren said answering the reaper.

"On three. One..two…three." Nathan said quietly to Jaune so they could synchronize putting down Ruby's uncle gently.

"Guys I don't know if all of us can make that climb." Jaune said looking down at Qrow with Nathan nodding in agreement.

Ruby ran up to the sign to examine it and pointed to one of the names, the crossed out one. "Okay. Well, what about this place? Kuro...Kuroyuri? Can we get help there?"

"That village was destroyed years ago." Ren said dismissing Ruby's suggestion immediately.

"But if it takes us around the mountains it's the best bet we've got." Jaune said knowing that Qrow would never make it over the mountains.

"It will take too long." Ren retorted sternly.

"The town would have had a doctor right? Maybe we could scavenge for medicine!" Ruby suggested still arguing for Kuroyuri with Jaune agreeing with her.

"We're not going to find anything! We just have to press on!" Ren said vehemently opposed to the idea. This was the most worked up Nathan has ever seen of Ren who is usually the definition of calm.

"Ren, why are you acting.." Jaune started to say before he was cut off by the wild redhead.

"We can split up." Nora stated.

"Huh?" Ruby said tilting her head.

"Ren and I can cut through the mountains while you, Ruby and Nathan take Qrow around through the village." Nora continued resting her hand on Ren's shoulder.

"No we're supposed to stick together! We keep each other safe!" Jaune said denying her plan.

"We don't have time for safe! If we make it to Mistral we'll bring back help! If we don't, at least we'll have a better view of the land! Up there we can see if there's somewhere else we can go!" Nora loudly said back.

The group sat in quiet at Nora's words until Qrow's coughs gave them more urgency to their actions.

"Ok." Jaune says as he steps forward and hugs Ren. "Just take care of each other."

"We always have." Nora said smiling.

The group parted ways with Nathan and Jaune continuing to carry Qrow while Ruby would serve as their immediate protection. They watched as Ren and Nora slowly disappear up the mountain path.

"They're gonna be fine Jaune." Ruby said to comfort the blonde.

"You don't know that." Jaune replied worried.

Later they walked into the dilapidated town of Kuroyuri, the three looking around at the desolation of the buildings and streets. "Oh man." Said Jaune.

"Come on." Ruby gestured onwards with her scythe. "Any of these places look like a pharmacy?"

"It's...honestly hard to tell." Jaune said looking back and forth at the various structures.

"Don't see any signs yet." Said Nathan.

Ruby looked off at something to their side that Nathan couldn't see. "Ren really didn't want to come here did he?"

"Uh...didn't seem so." Answered Jaune.

"Do you know...why?" Ruby asked, Nathan was curious as well.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Jaune said.

The three found a patch of grass to set Qrow down on so they can look for any medical supplies in the ruins of the small town. Ruby decided her and Nathan would go searching while Jaune stayed to watch after Qrow. The two split up when they made it further into the town saying quiet goodbyes as they separated. Nathan scrounged through several stores but found nothing much, the town may have already been looted by others years ago. He gave up after pilfering through the twentieth cabinet so far and started to head back to meet up with Ruby when something caught his eye. It was no medical supplies but it might brighten a certain reaper's day.

When Nathan got back to the decided meet-up by the remains of a flower shop Ruby was already waiting for him. "I guess you didn't find anything either?" She asked.

"Nope, but close your eyes and hold out your hands."

"O..kay?" She questioned but did as he asked.

He placed several strawberries into her hands making Ruby open her eyes. "Where'd you get 'em?"

"I found some growing in what I'm guessing was someone's garden at some point, maybe they were selling them?" Nathan answered with a shrug as Ruby started to munch on the small fruits.

"Thanks Nate!" Ruby said still chewing on the strawberries. When she finished she hugged and kissed him.

"And now you taste fruity." He said when she was done kissing him.

"Better than tasting nasty." She said sticking her tongue out.

"Yeah…m-maybe I can t-taste some more later?" Said Nathan with a grin.

Ruby shoved him. "Nate bad! Not until we know Uncle Qrow is safe and all…..then y-you can." She finished with a blush.

"Ok, let's get back to Jaune and Qrow and get moving again." Nathan said ready to arrive wherever they can get help for Qrow and had no ulterior motives at all.

The pair arrived to see Jaune pacing back and forth in a sort of patrol while Qrow leaned against a dead tree. "You guys find anything?" He says.

"Nope, the towns picked clean." Ruby answered. There was the sound of a roar in the distance after she made than statement, this caused Jaune to start reaching for his sword.

"It's far off." Ruby said.

Jaune let go of his sword. "I know, but Ren and Nora are still out there."

"They'll be fine Jaune, those two can handle pretty much anything." Nathan said who still looked around for any signs of Grimm.

"Yeah but I'm still worried about them." Jaune said.

"And that's what makes you a good leader." Ruby said. "You care about your team's wellbeing."

"I'm still not sure about this leader thing but I'm still trying." Jaune replied before another much closer roar was heard making Jaune draw his sword and Ruby to ready her scythe.

The three were looking around until they spotted Ren and Nora had just shown up. "What are you guys doing here?" Ruby said to them.

"Did you hear that noise? What was that?!" Jaune questioned them but Ren just fell to his knees.

"Ren! What is it?!" Ruby shouted.

They began to hear the sound of heavy footfalls approaching them from outside of the village. Nathan trained his pulse rifle on the direction the noise was coming from following its movement. The beast then emerged from behind a house for the whole group to see. It was a particularly hideous Grimm that looked like a mix between a man and a horse with jutting bones and the remains of arrows and weapons sticking out of various parts of its body. The large Grimm let out another roar as it prepared to attack them.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Forgot to mention it last time but more than 300 followers!? Are your guys standards really low or are RWBY fanfics just that bad in general? Anyway this chapter will be the conclusion of Volume 4 and now it'll be on to Volume 5…..yay(sarcasm).**

"What the hell is that?" Nathan said still pointing his rifle towards the monster.

"A Grimm, a very strong one." Replied Ren readying his weapons.

The Grimm twitched before letting out a roar that made the group cover their eyes from the audio blast. The Grimm then turns its attention to Qrow who was in no shape to fight and began to approach him for an easy kill. Jaune sees this and makes a move to save Qrow before the monster can get to him which the Grimm tried to stop the boy by swiping at him with is long appendages that Jaune barely managed to dodge. Jaune starts getting Qrow up who was still propped against a tree but the Grimm was closing in. Ren used his semblance to hide Jaune and Qrow just as the Grimm almost got them, Jaune just stared at the beast that was nearly on top of them.

"Just get him to safety!" Ren yelled, exerting himself to keep his semblance up. Jaune moves Qrow out of sight behind one of the nearby buildings.

Denied its target the Grimm moved to attack the rest of the group, flailing and slashing with its tentacle-like limbs. It would alternate by grabbing one of them but before it could deliver an attack the rest of the group would attack the Grimm. It was on Nathan's turn to get attacked that instead of being simply let go to free up the Grimm's "hand" he was tossed into a building with enough force to make him bounce off the wall and roll several meters.

"Nate!" Ruby yelled out but couldn't stop fighting the Grimm to check on him as the Grimm slashed at her.

He was on the ground facedown trying to get air back into his lungs from getting the wind knocked out of him. Nathan didn't move because he thought he might've broke some bones from the impact but he did feel a burning in his chest, a similar feeling to that time he stuck a paperclip in an electrical outlet. He shifted his head to looking up at the fight to see in almost slow motion the monster about to grab Ruby again. He moved his arm to reach out for her but when he did blue lightning shot from his right hand and briefly stunned the Grimm interrupting its attack allowing Ren and Nora to draw its attention away.

Ruby rose petaled to Nathan and rolled him over. "You alright Nate?"

"My left arm feels like it's broken and I might've fractured some ribs so I'm not up to serious fighting for a little while, also I think I discovered my semblance. I don't know where I got the aura from though." Nathan answered as he slowly sat up and then got up from a kneeling position. His left arm hung limply and his pulse rifle dangled on its sling across his chest.

Ruby noticed an indent in the chest plate of Nathan's armor. "I think you might need a new one." She pointed.

He felt it before sighing. "Yeah, go help out the others. I can't really use my pulse rifle but maybe a can try out this whole lightning thing." He said looking at his arm.

Ruby gave him a quick peck on the cheek before jumping back in slashing with Crescent Rose. Nathan intermittingly fired bolts of electricity out of his hand at the Grimm leaving small openings for the others to attack. The sight of the lightning gave Nora an idea. "Nate, charge my batteries!"

He was confused on why the redhead wanted him to zap her but against his better judgement Nathan shot a stream of lightning into Nora. Her eyes had a slight glow along with some of her veins giving out a blue glow to them. Nora jumped high into the air before bringing down her hammer on the Grimm causing it to sink into the ground then swung Magnhild destroying the Grimm's horse-like head followed by Ren removing the Grimm's arms finishing it off by beheading the "human" Grimm part of the beast.

Ruby sprints off to go check on Qrow still behind the ruined structures. Jaune came over to Nathan to check his arm by feeling along it for the break which shot pain down his arm from the blonde's less than gentle attentions. Once he found the break Jaune wrapped a small piece of wood against Nathan's forearm and place it in a crude sling.

He just finished this as two wooden airships arrived with one touching down and several men disembarking with one carrying a stretcher by his side. Ren talked to them and the men said they were from Mistral and Ren informed them of Qrow's condition and where he was with two of them breaking off with the stretcher to retrieve him. The group started to board when they saw the two Mistrali men carrying Qrow along with Ruby walking next to them. Once they got Qrow settled in the airship lifted off and joined the other aircraft that was making slow circles overhead and both headed off for Mistral.

One of the crewmembers had a quick onceover with Nathan, checking his arms and felt his chest where he thought he broke some ribs. Ruby stood nearby tapping her foot impatiently waiting for her turn with Nathan. The man told him as long as he took it easy for a couple days his aura should fix him up.

Once the man went away to continue seeing to Qrow Ruby wrapped Nathan in a hug though she tried not to squeeze too hard. "Don't worry Nate, when we get to Mistral I'll be your nurse."

"But it'll only be a few days." He said.

"No buts, you need proper rest and I'll make sure you get it." The reaper said seriously.

"Fine, you better help me with my semblance when I heal up."

"Of course, congratulations on unlocking it by the way." Ruby says giving him a light squeeze.

"I'm still not sure if it's just me zapping things or if there's more to it, I guess we'll find out later."

"Well at least Nora has a support to power her up." Ruby chuckled.

"I suppose, hold still I wanna try something." He said putting a hand on Ruby's arm then let a small current of electricity into her making her hair standup.

"Nate! Don't do that! It feels weird and makes my skin all tingly." She said trying to pull her hair back down with the slight snaps of static as she did so, Nathan just laughed.

They made it to Mistral without incident and the crew gave Qrow some anti-venom for the poison that Tyrian stung him with. They said it should leave his system pretty quick but he'll still be feverish for about a week. The Mistrali also provided transportation to a hotel that was close by however the group had to pay for the rooms themselves.

After Qrow was settled into bed Ruby went with Nathan to their room so she could help him out of his gear. First undoing the sling holding his arm and letting it down gently, them carefully sliding off his rifle and rucksack. The chest plate was a bit difficult because some of the latches were damaged but they managed after Nathan cut the nylon straps some of the steel latches were attached to. The rest of the armor was easy enough to remove and Ruby helped him remove the camo jacket top along with his shirt. Nathan removed the rest of the gear himself and hung his belt off the bed next to him so he could still reach the dust pistol. Ruby removed some of her gear as well and placed her scythe next to his rifle by the wall and put her pistol under one of the bed's pillows.

"You hungry?" Ruby asked him as she took off her boots.

"Yeah, especially since we skipped lunch because of that Grimm."

"Well I'm gonna ask what the others want and order some food delivered here. Anything in particular you want?"

"Maybe some spicy Vacuo chicken?" Nathan said turning on the television.

"Alright. I'll go see everyone else." Ruby said standing up from the bed, turned and gave Nathan a kiss. "I'll be back."

Nathan watched her leave, he thought maybe Ruby should consider going back to leggings. Sometimes the way her skirt shifts he could almost see her panties. Those lewd thoughts didn't help when he was surfing through channels and found out the hotel had a porn channel. The scene it was on was a human guy with two girls that were cat faunus' getting it on next to a pool. Nathan was watching it for a bit until Ruby walked into the room and he scrambled to change the channel but she saw enough to know what he was watching. "Nate!" She said turning dark red.

"Oh….h-hey Ruby. A-apparently we have porn." Nathan said with a blush settling on a cooking show where an Atlesian guy was yelling at the chiefs for their poor performance.

"W-well the food is on its way." Ruby said trying to steer away from porn and "bad" thoughts.

She climbed into bed with him and the two watched the show together until the food arrived. When it arrived they were even more hungry thanks to the cooking program, seeing all that food made their hunger worse. Ruby came back with the food and set her meal down on the bed but instead of handing the bag of chicken to Nathan to eat she pulled out the provided plastic fork and skewered a piece of chicken and proceeded to make airplane noises. "Open wide for the plane Nate."

"Ruby I'm not two and I'm not crippled, I can feed myself."

Unperturbed the reaper continued to "fly" the chicken around with airplane sounds until Nathan sighed and opened his mouth and she fed him the poultry.

"I told you, as Nurse Ruby Rose I will take care of ya." She said forking another chicken and starting up the airplane routine again.

"You have a nurse outfit?" Nathan asked with a grin.

"No, but maybe Nora does." Ruby answered not catching what he was getting at, he thought Ruby was too pure.

After Ruby finished feeding him she started on her fairly simple meal of noodles. Ruby was still a messy eater and left some remnants of her meal near the corners of her mouth and cheeks. She got most of it with a napkin but missed a few spots. "Hey Rubes."

"Hmm?"

"You missed a spot." Nathan said before licking up the little bit of sauce left by the corner of her mouth which made her blush.

"Nate stop." Ruby giggled.

"Someone has to clean you up." Nathan said as he poked her belly.

"Oh, speaking of cleaning I should take a shower. I would say you should too but you should wait until that's mostly healed." She said pointing at his arm.

He sighed and said "Ok." as he gave her a light zap making her hair stick up again.

"This better not be a regular thing now." She said with false anger as she fixed her hair before she started to get undressed. Ruby was just starting to remove her skirt when she noticed Nathan was watching her. "Stop staring you perv."

"Can't help it with a cute girl in the room."

"Fine. I'll get undressed in the bathroom." She replied moving to said room.

"No fair."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at him before closing the bathroom door.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Finally getting another chapter out! A bit of a longer one but a talky one, it is Volume 5 after all. Insert excuse here on why it took awhile for an update. Next chapter hopefully I get out before I go on vacation but if not expect another long wait sorry, it should be more of a Ruby/Nathan chapter so maybe that'll make you guys happy.**

Less than a week later the group led by Qrow visited the headmaster of Haven Academy. The said master of the school appeared to be a rather nervous lion faunus by the name of Leonardo Lionheart. He even fainted when the armed group showed up at his school.

Afterwards Lionheart settled for fidgeting around and being the general definition of anxiety. Nathan felt like something was off about Haven's headmaster but didn't say anything. The talk led to the Maidens with Qrow revealing the location of the Spring Maiden who was with the Branwen tribe, a tribe led by Qrow's sister and Yang's mother: Raven.

The final takeaway from the visit was Lionheart informed them Cinder's group that came to Beacon claiming to be from Haven Academy were not actually from there and used forged papers.

When the meeting was over the group left with Qrow breaking off to go get a drink. The rest of the group went back to the house they have been staying at to recover. Most of the group stayed out in the living room while Ruby and Nathan went back to their room. Ruby dug through her pack to find one of her comic books and jumped onto the bed, lying on her stomach and began to read.

Nathan sat down on the bed beside Ruby and flexed his left arm, his arm was still somewhat tender and achy but the bone was healed and he could use his arm again at least. Now that he has healed he hoped Ruby could help learn more about using his semblance and get more aura-oriented training on their off time which Nathan suspected they'll have a lot of.

Ruby was lightly humming a tune of a song she used to listen too as she continued to read her comic and swinging her legs back and forth in a similar manner to when she studied back at his shop. However this time from this angle he couldn't see up her skirt.

Nathan thought of giving Ruby a light zap but the reaper looked up at the sound of Qrow carrying on in the next room making her grumble. She got up out of bed and started towards the door still muttering about the noise interrupting her reading time. Nathan followed with her to see what the ruckus was.

Stomping into the living room where the rest of the group was Ruby said angerly. "What is going on out there?! Can't a girl read her comics in peace?"

The two came into the room where everyone else was assembled with Qrow laying on the couch and there was a younger, tanned boy Nathan didn't recognize standing there. Ruby's uncle who started chuckling from the couch made Ruby place a hand against her head in annoyance. "Uncle Qrow, did you get drunk again?"

"Maybe." He answered mischievously.

The younger boy steps forward towards Ruby saying. "Oh, you have silver eyes."

Ruby looked around confused finishing on Ren and Nora but they didn't know who the kid was either. "Who..are you?" She asked.

"Uh...well, my name is Oscar Pine." The boy answered.

"Wait for it." Qrow said from the couch.

"But you probably know me as...Professor Ozpin." Oscar continued unsure.

The room was filled with gasps of surprise and looks of confusion minus Ruby's drunken uncle. "I did it!" He yelled punching the air before rolling off the couch and hitting the hard wood floor.

Oscar sits down in a nearby armchair unsure of his current situation.

The group asked if he has reverse aged, was possessed or reincarnated with Ruby just simply asking if it is weird for him.

"It is very weird, yes." Oscar answered the reaper.

"Okay, okay. Let's all just take a second and remember that this is very overwhelming for everyone." Qrow said coming back into the room with a drink to help him sober up.

"Thanks." Oscar said to Qrow as the man sat down next to him. "Ah, sorry! It's just I've never really met huntsmen and huntresses before." He said nervous of all the eyes on him.

"Well, uh...we've never met a person with two souls! So, first times all around." Ruby answered back at Oscar's statement.

Qrow clears his throat. "Not to break up the whole 'getting-to-know-you' game but we need to have a talk. Mind showing us your little parlor trick, kid?"

Oscar groaned. "Yeah, okay. Just so you know, I'll still be here." He closed his eyes and his aura began to glow a mixture of green and white. When Oscar opened his eyes they were glowing. "It is so very good to see you again, students." He said with what sounded like several voices talking at once.

Nathan didn't recognize it but from the reactions from the rest of the group he deduced they knew who it was and they couldn't believe it.

"Wait, what just happened?" Jaune said confused.

"Professor...Ozpin?" Ren said.

"Correct and though I may be the one speaking Oscar is still present mentally. He's merely handed over the control, so to speak." Ozpin replied in that strange voice from Oscar. "I'm afraid this all must be very perplexing."

"And alarming and bizarre and just really kind of hard to believe overall!" Nora said.

Ozpin chuckled at Nora's remark. "It's good to see you children still have your sense of humor. I know you've all been through tremendous hardship already. I'm sorry."

"I mean it's not your fault." Ruby said trying to comfort him.

"It's all my fault. I told you once that I made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet and I wasn't exaggerating. I'm...cursed. For thousands of years I've walked the surface of Remnant, living, dying and reincarnating in the body of a like-minded soul. The Professor Ozpin you all met was not my first form and clearly wasn't my last. It's...an extraordinarily strenuous process on everyone involved." Ozpin said.

"So who...what...are you?" Jaune questioned.

"I am the combination of countless men who've spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant. With every rebirth my soul is eventually merged with another and I am changed, but my memories stay with me. This curse was bestowed upon me by the gods because I failed to stop Salem in the past. But we must stop her now." Ozpin answered.

"And how do we do that?" Ruby asked him.

"We start...by ensuring the safety of the Relic of Knowledge." Said Ozpin.

"This is perfect! We were stuck at a dead end but now we can just take little cute boy Ozpin to Lionheart and have him set things straight!" Nora said happily.

"Please don't call me that." Ozpin said through Oscar.

"We're not sure that's the best idea." Qrow said raining on Nora's parade.

"But I thought the headmasters all took their orders from you?" Ren said to Ozpin.

"That was the intention. Four lieutenants I can trust, especially during times of reincarnation. But Qrow told me about your meeting with Leonardo. He isn't just behaving irrationally, he's disobeying specific instructions I had left him. Something's wrong, I don't want to jump to conclusions but I don't want to rule out any possibilities either. No one outside of this room knows that I've paired with Oscar and I think it may be best to keep it that way." Ozpin clarified.

"Play things close to the chest until we get a better hand." Qrow said elaborating on what Ozpin said.

"Precisely, now we have two steps ahead of us. The first is enlisting the aid of more huntsmen." Said the former headmaster.

"But the Mistral council-" Ren started to say before being interrupted by Qrow.

"Doesn't own every huntsman in the Kingdom and I've been here enough times to know where we can find some more." Qrow stated.

"So long as they're trustworthy." Ozpin said. Though with the way things were now Nathan doubted many were anymore.

"You can trust them to put up a good fight, I'll throw together a list tonight." Qrow said as he put a foot on the close by table causing one of the table's legs to break and spilling his drink on the floor forcing him to clean up the mess.

"Good luck with that." Nora said.

"After that we can move on to step two." Ozpin announced.

"What's step two?" Nora asked.

"Getting you five into fighting shape." Ozpin said holding up his cane.

"But uh, we already know how to fight." Ruby said.

"You can only fight so long as you have Crescent Rose, but you're still lacking in hand-to-hand combat." Ozpin said pointing at her.

"Well, uh yeah." Ruby sighed.

Ozpin turned to pointing at Jaune. "Mr. Arc, I'm glad to hear you've improved but sorry to say you've yet to unlock your Semblance. All of you still have a ways to go before you're ready to pose any real threat against Salem and her forces. And though Oscar can give me temporary control he'll need to strengthen his body and his Aura. He'll inherit my muscle memory in time but practice will expedite the process."

"But if Uncle Qrow's out looking for huntsmen then who's going to teach us?" Ruby said.

Ozpin using Oscar did a flip with a series of spins through the air while spinning his cane landing back in his seat. "Well I believe I was the headmaster of Beacon Academy. We have approximately one month before classes resume at Haven. If Salem were to plan an attack, it would make sense that it would occur prior to students' return. It's not much time but it's better than nothing. Just don't expect me to go easy on you." With that he glows green and white again, the glow leaving his eyes giving Oscar back control of his body.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Oscar said making a statement about the future training that awaited him.

The next day the group was training outside with Ruby and Oscar/Ozpin sparring in hand-to-hand combat. The rest just watched as the two fought. Oscar punches Ruby in the face which greatly angers her. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Oscar let out before Ruby punched him back knocking him on the ground. Jaune and Nora cringed at the hit while Nathan chuckled.

"Ha! Yes, I did it!" Ruby cheered for herself. "Oscar?"

Oscar gets back on his feet and his eyes give out the glow indicating Ozpin is in control. "Not bad Miss Rose. But Oscar doesn't have the years of training that you do. Or I do."

"Oh ha well, maybe we should uh...take a break." Ruby said slowly stepping back.

He assaults Ruby with a series a punches to the face forcing her back followed by a kick to the side of her head. Ruby tries to land a punch by Ozpin dodges her attack and retaliates with a headbutt. The hits made Nathan wince and somewhat angry, he decided to make sure to give Ruby extra cuddles later.

"The next time you want to throw a left cross remember to push off with the appropriate foot. And as always, do be aware of any openings." Ozpin said to Ruby after he finished his attack.

"Goooot it." Ruby said as she sat up.

Ozpin let Oscar take back control causing him to fall to the ground panting in exhaustion.

"Oh! Hey, are you okay?" Ruby asked the boy.

"How is this so exhausting?" Oscar said.

"Your body isn't used to this kind of training, not to mention generating a defensive Aura on your own. It takes intense concentration at first, but in time it will become second nature allowing you to deflect attacks and gradually heal your wounds. After that you can begin focusing on your Semblance, whatever that may be." Ren lectured.

"Semblance?" Oscar questioned.

"You know, like your very own superpower! Everybody's got one. It's just a matter of finding it and mastering it. Ruby moves super fast, electricity makes me stronger, Ren can mask emotions, Nate can shoot out lightning, and Jaune...can uh, um. Hmm." Said Nora.

"I can't do anyth-" Jaune started to say.

"Jaune's like you!" Ruby stated taking Oscar closer to Jaune. "He hasn't found his Semblance yet but we all know he will. And you will too. We all just have to try and help each other get stronger."

"Cool." Oscar said nervously.

"A common philosophy is that a warrior's Semblance is a part of who they are. Some say your personality and character can define your Semblance while some claim that it is the other way around. Of course there are still many who don't see a connection at all." Ren continued to lecture.

"It's hard to know when you know sometimes. Ren's Semblance was unlocked from intense stress." Explained Nora.

"Got mine fighting a tough Grimm." Said Nathan.

"And mine kicked in during training one day." Ruby said.

"And what about you?" Oscar asked Nora.

"Oh, struck by lightning. Didn't die. Craaaazy Thursday." Nora said.

"I just don't understand what's wrong with me. I train. I meditate." Said a frustrated Jaune.

Oscar's eyes glowed again with Ozpin taking control. "Don't worry Mr. Arc. Your journey is far from over. And the same might be said for all of you. Unlocking your Semblance isn't the end, it can still grow and evolve. Providing you're willing to put in the work, who knows what could happen."

"Then let's get back to it." Said the reaper with a smile.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Finally back! Sorry for the super long wait guys. Little bit of a shorter chapter but I felt I had to feed you guys something since it's been so long so here you go. Everything is owned by RoosterTeeth.**

Ozpin has been putting the group through training up, focusing on their weaknesses or areas that really needed improvement. Nathan and Ruby were training in the dojo style room that was part of the house they were staying in. Nathan was trying to see just how far he could project his lightning attacks with the bolts going as far as six meters. He still didn't feel drained from his aura use but for some reason Ruby seemed to be exhausted. He thought that was odd since the most she did was a little hand-to-hand with Oscar that morning. Nathan pulled out his scroll to check his aura and it read that he was still mostly full while Ruby was starting to go into orange. While looking at the scroll he shot out some electricity and saw his aura level barely move while Ruby's went down slightly.

"Hey Rubes, I think my semblance might have a side effect." He said showing her his scroll.

It took Ruby a few moments to add things together. "Your semblance drains others' aura to power itself?"

"Seems that way, some kind of 'aura vampirism' I guess. Might become a problem if I weaken everyone just to use it." He said looking at his hand which Ruby grabbed.

"It won't be….just save it for…strategic moments." She said the last bit happily.

"Like charging up Nora?"

"Like charging up Nora."

"Could maybe try getting close and draining our enemy's aura while attacking them." He suggested.

"Maybe but your close combat ability isn't very good, I think I've taught you that enough." She said with a wink.

"I don't know, I always managed to get a few 'stabs' in." Nathan jokingly.

Ruby blushed. "Sh-hutup Nate." She tried to shove him but in her still drained state she barely nudged him.

"Wanna stop to eat? Unfortunately I can't recharge your batteries by zapping you…as much fun as that is." Nathan said grinning.

"Yeah no, don't buzz me again. I want chocolate!" Ruby decided for herself.

Nathan went to vending machine that was kept in the hallway and got Ruby some N&Ns and a bag of pretzels for himself. He also got a bottle of orange juice for them to share. Coming back into the room he threw the bag of chocolate candies into the air which Ruby quickly snatched into her hands before tearing open the wrapper and munching on the small treats. He kept a more sedate pace of eating his salty meal and taking small sips of juice.

Once she was almost finished with the candy he offered her some of the orange beverage which she took several gulps from. "Heh, I needed that. I guess I was more drained than I thought, haven't felt like that since Signal."

"What about 'our' times?" Nathan asked which made Ruby redden slightly.

"W-well that's a different kind of drained. T-that one is more of a h-happy exhausted and not the bad kind." Ruby answered before a grin appeared on her face. "Hey Nate, do you want some of these?" She offered some of the remainder of N&Ns.

"Sure, thanks Rubes." He said holding out his hand expecting her to pour the bag's contents into his hand.

Ruby simply popped a few into her mouth and had them laying on her tongue. "Well?" She said awkwardly trying to keep her mouth open and the candies in place.

Nathan scooted closer to her on the bench they were sitting on and kissed Ruby using his own tongue to fish out the chocolates from her mouth as they were starting to melt. The kiss was messy forcing Nathan to lick up some of the chocolate that dripped out of Ruby's mouth onto her chin.

"What brought that on?" Nathan asked her.

"Just thought of it, wanna try something else?"

"Huh? What?"

With a red face Ruby placed the couple remaining N&Ns into her cleavage, she lifted her breasts to help emphasize them. "T-this."

He proceeded to shove his face into her breasts unable to resist. His licking up of the chocolate which was already starting to melt made Ruby giggle at the touch of his tongue. When he finished lapping up the chocolate she kissed his forehead. "I love you." He said.

"Love you too Nate. I think I'm gonna take a shower, wanna join me?" She said getting up assuming Nathan would follow.

"Y-yeah, I could use one." He said getting up to follow and throwing their trash away as he followed her.

When they got to the small shower room that had ten individual stalls Nathan hugged Ruby from behind and kissed the back of her neck. He began removing her cloak and undoing the various belts holding up Ruby's clothes and loosening her corset. She helped in areas he was having difficulty until she was in her bra, panties, stockings and boots. Ruby quickly removed his shirt before he could remove his boots. As soon as he got out of his boots Ruby rapidly undid his belt buckle and forcefully pulled down his pants and boxers. She gripped his member as she kissed him as he unclasped her bra allowing it to fall to the floor with the rest of their clothes. She backed off a bit to remove her long boots and stockings followed by her underwear.

She pulled him into a shower stall and closed the curtains behind them. He turned on the warm water which they both stood under while they embraced and traded kisses, some occasionally on the neck with some nibbles. "C-can we go a-all the way?" She asked looking up at him.

"But I don't have any rubbers on me." He said showing his lack of pockets.

"It's ok, Nora has been giving me some p-pills that're supposed to help w-with that." Ruby said burying her face into his chest in embarrassment.

"And you're sure they work?" He asked.

"Nora hasn't got pregnant yet so I'm pretty sure." Ruby said looking back up at him.

"If I knock you up your dad, uncle and probably Yang are gonna kill me." He said.

"I'll just tell them it was my fault." She said confidently.

"I don't think they'll listen." Nathan replied.

"Pleasssssse." Ruby asked making the puppy eyes.

He sighed. "Fine." He relented as he backed her into the tiled wall of the shower. "Remember that night behind the shed?"

Ruby reddened and nodded. Nathan held out his arms so she could jump up which she did with Nathan holding her up with his hands under Ruby's thighs while she wrapped her arms around his neck. He lowered her towards his dick and teasing her opening with his tip before slipping inside. The feeling for the two was different from the other times they had together, it felt better without the layer of rubber separating them. It took a relatively small number of thrusts before Ruby came from the new sensation letting out a moan that they hoped didn't make it out of the shower room.

She wasn't the only one that was pushed further along as Nathan was making small grunts trying to keep going as long as he could but only managed to make Ruby climax one more time making her scratch down his back before he shot his load into her giving her a new sensation of warmth spreading inside her.

Nathan set her down off the wall onto her feet and steadied her, his seed starting to leak out of her and dripping down her leg. "That…that was…something." Was all Nathan could say.

"Y-yeah….it was." She said reaching down to her crotch and pulling her hand away coated in Nathan's cum. "You made a mess."

"It's what happens when nothings in the way." He retorted. "Come on, lets get cleaned up before anyone needs to use the showers."

The pair rinsed off with Ruby paying extra attention to her nether regions. Once done they dried off with the towels provided in the shower stall where their clothes were piled. Finishing that they quickly dressed. "I'm glad I keep my hair short, it dries pretty fast. I can't imagine how much of a pain it is to have long hair like my sis."

"That and you don't shed like a cat." Nathan said which made her giggle.

"Well we do have Blake, her hair used to get everywhere in our room back at Beacon."

As they exited the showers the couple saw Ren and Nora coming their way to use the showers. Nathan supposed they just finished their training and were going to freshen up like him and Ruby did….minus the sex part…probably. As they passed Nora not so subtly winked at Ruby.

When the pair were out of earshot Nathan asked. "What was that?"

"I think Nora knows we…you know, or she and Ren are gonna…" She said blushing.

"Oh, well let's give them their privacy. Wanna play some games on the scroll?"

"Sure, I think we might be able to link up and play that ninja fighting game." Ruby suggested.

"Alright, any prizes for winning?" He asked smirking.

She puts a hand to her chin. "Hmm, winner gets a back and foot rub."

"Deal." He said shaking her hand. "It's a win-win for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I get to touch you?" He answered.

She blushed. "That's true…I guess."

Nathan later lost to Ruby, whether it was Ruby's better experience with the game or Nathan intentionally losing the game was uncertain but he ended up giving her a long and thorough massage which elicited a number of moans from the red reaper that caused the others to give them strange looks when they left the bedroom to come eat dinner. It also didn't help that Nora seemed more chipper than ever and was asking Ruby many inconvenient questions rather too loudly to be considered whispering.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Shorter chapter this time, I thought of adding more but the next chapter is going to be a talky one so decided to make that a separate one. Hopefully I can get volume 5 done in a few more chapters, I just wonder if I'll catch up to volume 7 or not before it comes out, I doubt it though.**

After the morning training Nathan and Ruby decided to spend the day out in the town and visit the local bazaar to see what was on sale and get some supplies if they could find any. The pair walked down cramped streets that were far too small for automobiles with many people riding bicycles or simply walking. The place felt like it hasn't changed much in hundreds of years, like it was trapped in time while the rest of the world moved along, but then again most of Mistral felt that way.

There was many stalls offering many wares from clothes, food, antiquities, weapons, exotic animals some technologies though most of those no longer functioned. Going from weapon vender to arms dealer they tried to buy up whatever ammo their group's weapons, unfortunately for Nathan his Pulse rifle uses proprietary ammunition so no luck on that front but he did get more for his pistol. The weapon was rather primitive compared to what was available back in Vale, mostly crude melee weapons and simple firearms. This didn't stop Ruby from still ogling them with a few letting her play with them in the hopes she'd buy one but Nathan already knew nothing would replace her beloved Crescent Rose.

After the weapons they looked from a blacksmith that works in armor to see if anyone could do at the bare minimum repairs on his chest armor which still bore the dent from that Grimm in Kuroyuri. They did find one that claimed had some experience with ceramic armors and let him try. He told them to come back in a few hours. With time to kill the two went to get some lunch at one of the food stalls. They went with some kebabs for a quick bite before checking out the rest of the bazaar, they heard someone has some captured Grimm that people fight for money and the two wanted to see.

Turns out the town had an arena in what was a courtyard that had been walled in at some point, when they got there they saw a local man fighting a Beowolf with nothing but a knife. Apparently if the man kills the Beowolf or survives for two minutes he'll get some lien. The man did win after a few scrapes by stabbing upwards under the Grimm's jaw thrusting the blade into it's brain killing it.

"I want to try!" Ruby said before biting off the last hunk of meat of her kebab.

"Don't you think you should rest?"

"I'll be fine, I need some practice fighting Grimm anyway." She replied. Nathan doubted it, Ruby could kill Grimm in her sleep.

The two approached who they guessed ran the arena because he paid the previous arena fighter. "I wanna fight!" Ruby asked though it sounded more like a demand.

"What? A cute little girl like you fighting those monsters?" The heavyset man asked pointing a thumb over his shoulder back at the arena.

Ruby smiled. "Thank for the first part." She said pulling out her weapon and deploying it in scythe mode proudly. "But I'm actually a huntress."

"In-training." Nathan added.

"Shut up Nate, I was trying to be cool." Ruby said out of the corner of her mouth.

The man chuckled. "Ok, I'll start you out on something easy. Go on in." He hit a button on his scroll that opened a sliding door into the arena which Ruby entered gleefully.

Nathan watched her through the fence as she got ready for the first creature of Grimm.

"Since she's a 'huntress' I let this one out first." The man said to himself pressing another button on his scroll. A door in the arena wall opened and out came an Alpha Beowolf which roared as it moved into the dirt-floored arena eyeing Ruby like she does a brownie. The Alpha raised its claws and charged her but she zoomed past the Alpha landing a slash on it's left side below the chest bone armor. The creature snarled at her before Ruby repeated her previous attack which also claimed the Alpha's right arm. Ruby then quickly cut downwards from it's left shoulder to right torso from behind.

"Damnit, I expected you to win but thought the Alpha would've last long enough to at least put on a show." The man said to Ruby.

"You can send more, that one was easy." Ruby said back.

"Alright, try these." Said the man pushing another button releasing several Beowolves into the arena.

Ruby smiled and proceeded to start making mincemeat out of the Grimm, rapidly killing them all with Crescent Rose. Their bodies were all slowly dissolving under the slowly descending sun. "Alright, I had my fun." Ruby said cheerfully exiting the arena.

"Uh…..oh, here's your earnings." The man said almost forgetting to give Ruby her lien.

"Thanks! Let's go Nate, your armor should be done by now." Ruby said grabbing his hand and pulling Nathan with her back to the blacksmith.

In-fact his chest plate was repaired, though crudely but at least the dent was gone. The blacksmith cut around the dent and soldered on a small square plate over the hole. He assured him that the cut didn't damage the structural integrity of the armor but Nathan wasn't sure. If it didn't he'll either just have to stop wearing it after it breaks or he dies, whichever comes first.

Leaving the blacksmith the pair went to the food market to pick up things to make for dinner tonight. Apparently Ruby wanted to cook some of it, Nathan was worried but didn't voice them aloud not wanting to hurt her feelings.

After getting all the food and ingredients they walked back to where they were staying holding hands as they went. "I miss Vale." Ruby suddenly said. "Doing stuff like this I mean."

"Like hanging out and doing stuff together?" Nathan said emphasizing the grocery bags he was carrying.

"Yup, I miss when we'd go into Vale to eat, play at the arcade, see movies and stuff, you know?"

"Yeah along with our training together." Nathan said. "I learned quite a bit from you."

Ruby blushed slightly. "Oh stop, that was nothing. Your mom already taught you pretty well, you just needed…refinement."

"Don't be so modest, I know you weren't during some of our training." The second half of Nathan's sentence made Ruby redden further.

"Shutup Nate, I don't remember you stopping me." She said sticking her tongue out.

The two made it back to the large house with Ruby heading into the kitchen with the groceries and to get started on dinner with Ren and Nora joining her. Jaune went to start setting up the table for their meal. Nathan dropped off the ammo he got for the group in the living room for them to go through later and went back to help Jaune with the table. With the two of them Jaune and Nathan didn't take long to set up the plates and utensils with some cheap disposable napkins. They could already smell their meal cooking in the next room.

"Alright, the first batch is just about done." Ren could be heard from the kitchen along with the others.

"Awesome! Now we just need Qrow and we'll be all set." Ruby stated.

"Do you really think he's gonna bring that many people? This is a lot of food" Said Nora who was munching on a piece of carrot as she cut them.

"We were a bit hungry when we were grocery shopping." Nathan answered Nora.

The group heard the sound of the front door opening and Qrow saying "I'm back!"

"Be right there!" Ruby said as she cooked but it was starting to burn.

"You're going to overcook that." Ren said to her as smoke started to come off the food.

"No I'm not, shutup!"

"Hey uh, Ruby?" Qrow said from the living room.

"I'm coming!" The smoke was getting worse. "Fine. You take over." Ruby said to Ren as she handed him the frying pan. She picks up a serving tray with some tea and walked towards the living room. "So, we didn't know how many people were coming so we just cooked all of it."

The sound of shattering pottery could be heard by the others so they left the kitchen and dining room to investigate to see a sobbing Ruby being hugged by her older sister Yang. They noticed Weiss was also there but Ruby called her over to join in their hug. Nathan thought now they're just missing Blake then their team can all be back together again. Everyone just let them have their moment….for about five seconds.

"I think this touching moment calls for food!" Nora said jumping towards the ceiling which made Ren touch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and sigh.

The "cooks" returned to the kitchen and finished making dinner, though Ren did most of it after he politely shooed Ruby and Nora away. The rest relocated to the dining room and began eating and talking after Ren was done.

The food was gone in mere moments and the group devolved into joking and reminiscing about their times at Beacon Academy.

 **Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.**


End file.
